S TR O L O G Y IN M E D IC IN

TH E FIT! PAT R IC !
THE

L E CTU RE S

D EL I VE R E D BE FOR E
RO YA L CO LL E G E O F PH Y S I C I A NS
ON

N VE M BE

W I TH

R
A

6 A ND

1 1,

DD END UM

9 3
1

ON

S AINTS AND S IG NS

BY

CH ARL E S

ART H U R M E RC IE R, M D
.

LL

FE

OW

M AC M I L L AN
S T

M AR T I N S

LL

O F T HE

CO

AN D

CO

EG E

TREET

1 9 14

I MITE D

LON

D ON

C OP YR IGH T

Qt amb r ih gt :
P R IN

AT

TED

BY

JOH N C

LA

Y,

M A
.

T H E U N IV E R S I Y P R E S S

TO
S IR T H O M AS BAR L O W , BART

PRES ID EN

OF TH E

RO Y

AL

CO

LL

EGE O F P H Y S IC IANS

OF

O N DO N

CONTENTS
P AGE

LE CT UR E

LECTUR E

II

AINTS

AND

39

NS

S IG

8O

L ECTU RE I

among the Scienc es

is qui te unique Its origin is so remote as to
antecede all written r e cords : it has formed an
important part o f the li fe of e ve ry nation that has
THE position of Astrology
.

advanc e d b eyond barbari sm

it

has

b ee n studi ed

with enthusiasm not only b y e v ery Europ ean nation

but al so by the Egyptians
Chi nes e

th e

Arabs

th e

th e

natives of Indi a

J e ws and by
,

th e

th e

Baby

l oni ans and the Chald eans It wa s studied in one

l on g unbrok en effort for thousands of years and
.

ngaged

th e

mo st str enuous endeavours of s om e of

the greatest intellects in every age

Albertu s

Magnus was a convin ced astrologer and e v en Roger

,

Bacon that v ery great man proj ected a un iv ersal

,

me di cine founded upon A strology

A knowledge

of Astrology was a n e c essary part of the equipme nt

of a ll educa ted men and Astrological terms form
to this day an integral part of
language
M

We still

co n s id er

very Eur op ean

we still nd persons
1

A str o logy in

and things i n

o pp osi ti o n

a s c en d en t

enough to b e born
deal in

u n d er

m er ch a n d i se ;

famili ar with

su e r

ex o r bi ta n t

ome persons
with

th e m a r ti a l

and others

still fortunate

are

lu cky

d i s a s ter

'

we still

we still nd some thi ngs

in the

M edic in e

s ta r

m er ch a n ts ;

; we

we

still

are

all

cloak of Sir J Moore

.

we still describe di sposition s and p erson s as

S

Jo vi a l,

a tu r n i n e,

M a r ti a l or M er cu r i a l ; we still

retain the names of S a tu r d a y S u n d a y and M on

,

d a y ; in

and

M e dicin e we r e tain

th e

and in

th e

Ven er ea l d i sea se,

te rms
latt e r

L u n a ti c
we

sti ll

prescribe M er cu r y ; and we still begin our pre

sc r i pti o n s

Y et

with the si gn of

the se

are

Jup i ter

the only remaining remnants of

a science and a n art that were once of paramoun t

importance

and

v e n medical men are ignorant

of the very terminology of a science and

an

that have been declare d by authority afte r

,

th o r i ty,

to be so n e c essary to

th e

art
au

proper practice

of medicine that without th em m e dici ne could not

,

be ef ciently practised and no medi cal practitioner

,

was fu lly equipped for his task

utterly extinct

As trology i s now

It began to deca y at the renais

sance ; it langui shed in the seventeenth century ;

the last man of high distinction who practis e d it in

Dea th of A str o logy

l

Dr yd en ;

this country was John

Woulfe a

but though Peter

maintained the truth of Astrology

th e

at the beginning of

ninete enth c e ntury it had

,

really expired when it received its de athblow from

biting humour of Jonathan Swift

th e

Y et

when

Walter Scott l e ss than a c e ntury aft erwards

,

tr o d u c ed

into

hi s

of

one

th e

novels

in

terms of the

art there was no one then living nor has there

,

be en sinc e any comm entator of sufcient k nowledge

to expose the blunders that

he

To such a record there

is

hi story

made

no parallel in

of human endeavour

th e

Th e re are inde ed

two subj ects of study that aff ord an approximation

but an approximation only to

th e

Astrology

hi story

of

The rst of thes e

really included what we now

l tte t h i son s J h n and Cha les dat d S pt 3

T wa d th latt e d f th i m nth
1 6 9 7 D y d n ay
S pt m b Cha l wi ll b gin t eco h i p f c t health
acco ding to h i n ati i ty which c a ting i t m y lf I m u
i s t u e an d ll th ing hi th t ha
happ n d acc ding t
that I p dicted th m S e al th e P fac t
th
e y ti m
an d th e li ne
hi Fab l
tm t m alice f th e ta i s pa t
Th
N w f qu en t t in e th e happi e l ight am ng
An d h igh ai d Jo e f m h i da k p i n f ed
Th w ight to k ff that h i planet h ng
Will gl i ly th e ew lai d w ks s cceed
1

In

ver

'

os

re

s re

or

so

or ou s

rs

re

se

ro

on

or

r so

re

er e

se

ve

er o

e u

ose

er

o r

re

es,

e v r

r es

er ,

12

A str o logy in

M edici n e

is therefore very far from extinct

Alchemy i s

u su ally however understood to mean sol ely what

,

it

in fact include as its principal obj ects

di d

th e

search for the philosoph e r s ston e and the search

th e

for

lixir of life

The philosoph e r s ston e was

desired not as an end in its elf but a s a means to

,

the transmutation of m e tals which were not then

,

known to

be

l ments

e e

I n e ed not re mind

audience that this endeavour which has be e n

,

obj ect for

th e

th l s
th e

nger of scorn for so many years is

,

now almost within sight of success

Certain

e le

ments are now transmut e d or transmut e them

,

selves

and

on e

at le ast of

th e

metal s known to

the ancient Alchemists is now made in

tory

Nor nee d I remind you that

physician discovere d a
,

life in

o r c h i d ia n

fe w

xtract

years ago

th e

one

th e

labora
emin ent
e

lixir of

while another has still

more re cently made the surprising di scovery that

th e

milk

lixir of life is n e ither more nor less than sour

H e was mor e fortunate than a prede cessor ,

who rst isolated alcohol and having drunk fre ely

,

of

th e

newly discov ered elixir of life died by

,

th e

irony of fate of acute alcoholic poisoning

A nearer parallel to the fat e of Astrology is to
,

be found

in

that of Aristotelian Logic ; but the

A s tr ology

a nd

L og ic

parallel is still not quite complete

Lo

gi c

It is true that

th e

was once cultivated with

v er sa li ty

sam e uni

and the sam e fervour a s Astrology ; that

it was aforetime like Astrology a n e ce ssary part

,

of

th e

be

quipment of e very man who pretended to

ducate d ; and that it is now fall e n into negle ct

and contempt that are well ni gh a s universal a s

-

former cul tivation ; but unlik e A strology

,

The lamp
n

gi c is

the very agony

iring am e of

Lo

It is dying indeed : it is in

not yet quite e xtinct

e xp

i ts

till

b reathes

ne

out but the

still ick e rs

pr eca r i o u sly

in some of th e dark plac es of the e arth We might

rm

v,

still nd by dili gent s earch professors who know

,

the m eaning of Barbara and Celarent of Bocardo

,

and Baralipton and can e v en subj ect th em

,

t o th e

orthodox manipul ations of logical art ; but who

now knows

th e

m eaning of a triplicity or a horo

scop e ? or could cast a ge niture or rectify a na

,

ti vi ty ?

Logic is moribund it is tru e but Astrolog y

,

is already dead It has b een d ead so l ong that it

no longer stinks ; p erhaps because it is embalmed
in th e wr itings of so many m en that were eminent
in the ir day We have e ven forgotten how con
.

spi c u o u s

and important a position it occupi ed

A s tr ology in M edic in e

a mon g the sciences the art s and the crafts of our

forefathers ; and it is because th e l on g sl e ep of
,

medicine its stagnation and want of progress

,

through so many c enturie s was due in no small

,

degree to the shackles of Astrology and of

,

th e

humoral pathology which Astrology countenanced

,

and corroborated that I think it seemly and

,

proper to bring before this Coll ege the elementary

principles of As trology and the ways in which they
,

were applied to medicine

Astrology had a known history of nearly six

thousand years

Its beg inning seems to have

been in Chaldea about

4000 B C
.

it was diffused

throughout all nations and p e oples that had any

pretence to civilisation ; and it engage d throughout
,

that immense time and that enormous area

th e

attention of innumerable votaries among whom

,

were some of the greatest int ellects that have

adorned the human race

It had consequently

attained to a degree of elaboration and compl e xity

which renders it di fcult to give within any
,

reasonable compass a clear account of its volu

,

minous details expres sed as they are in highly

,

technica l term inology and conveyed in Latin so

,

canine and so extraordinarily abbreviated a s to be

A s tr o logy

Fa ctor s of

obscure often to the point of unintelligibility

,

In

preparing the account that I shall give I have had

,

the advantage of appealing on different points to

,

a Latin scholar of rare attainm e nts to a Professor

,

of Astronomy and to a Professor of Ancient

,

History and I rej oice to say that one and all have
,

been unable to solv e som e of the problems that

had puzzled myself

Where such solar luminaries

have failed to i lluminate it is no disgrace to my

,

farthing

candle if it gives no light

The main factors in Astrology are three

the

Signs of the Zodiac the Seven Planets and the

,

Houses of H ea ven

l
.

I n Me di cal As trology there is yet another

factor which is equally important and without
,

which Medical As trology cannot

be

understood

This factor consists of the four Elementary Q ualities

Heat Cold Dryness and Moisture ; which cor

,

respond

w ith

the four elem ents Fire Earth Ai r

,

and Water ; with the four humours

Yellow

Black Bile Blood and Phlegm ; and

,

other things

wi th

Bile

many

A t lo gy It m a y m ean
a twelf th pa t o f th e e ve s a s wi ll b e shown p esently
or i t m a y m ean a Sign o f th e ! o di a c s p eci c all y app o p r i ate d
to a par tic ula Plan et wh ic h i i t L o d
1

A House h as tw o
r

aning
ha n

me

in

s ro

A s tr o logy in

M edicin e

Since there are twelve Sign s of

th e

Zodiac

Seven Planets and tw elve Hou s e s of H e aven it

,

will be easily seen that

combinations of any

one

m e rely num erical

th e

of these with the others

are indenit ely multitudinous

known that each may

be

and wh en it is

combin e d with

th e

others

in many different ways the complications become

,

too great for the human intellect to follow

and

sinc e many of

th e

combinations depend on con

sid e rations that

ar e

both vague and arbitrary it is

,

not surprising that scarc ely any two Astrologers

should combine th e m in the same way or draw
,

th e

same conclusions from the same disposition of

th e

h e av ens

Eve ry Sign of the Zodiac ev ery Planet and

,

v e ry Hou se has c ertain spe cial powers and

i n u

ence not only ov e r mankind generally but specially

,

over individual

m en

and wom en according to the

,

moment of their birth accordi ng to th e ir com

,

plexion

di sposition

and temperam ent accordi ng

,

to the plac e in which they live and so forth

and

in addition every Sign Planet and Hous e has

,

special powers at certain tim es of life and every

,

Sign and Planet

ha s

its own elementary qualities

as hot and dry cold and moist and so forth and

,

Signs of

th e !

dia c

has special power over s ome part of the body

some faculty of mind

Moreover these powers

both general and

scarcely retain the m

nor

pecial are reinforced or di

,

mini shed in so many ways that

i n f o r c em e n t

a nd

th e

memory can

and since n e ither the

th e di minution

re

is susceptible of

any e xact computation the result even if all were

,

to b e allowed th eir proper w eight must always be

,

dubious

TH E S IGNS

OF TH E

ZODIAC

These of cours e are twelve in number

,

In

Astronomy they are disposed in the order in which

the sun succ essively occupi e s them Arie s Taurus
,

and G e mini being

Leo

th e

Sign s of Spring ; Cancer

and Virgo those of Summer ; Libra Scorpio

,

and Sagittarius those of Autumn and Capric ornus

Aquarius and Pi sc e s

th e

Signs of Winter

In

Astrolog y however th ey are di ff erently arranged

,

accordi ng to their several qualities or prop erties

Th ey are still in groups of three but each group

,

forms not a season of the ye ar but a Triplicity

thus :
Aries the rst month of Spring Leo the seco nd
,

month of Summer and Sagittariu s

,

th e

third month

A str o logy in

10

M edic in e

of Autumn form the rst Triplicity ; every sign in

,

which is hot and dry re gulat e s the Bili s

,

masculine diurnal and

,

is

inuential in youth

Lord is Sol by day and Jupiter by night

Fi g 1
.

a va ,

is

Its

The second Triplicity consists of Tau rus the

,

second Sign of Spring Virgo the third Sign of

,

S u mmer and Capricornus the rst of Winter

,

These Signs are cold and dry ; their corresponding

humour is Bilis atra ; they are feminine nocturnal
,

A s tr o logy in

l2

M edic in e

! Y et it is a x e d r u le that all
childr e n are born under Aries j ust a s by th e

Signs are female

common law all children born at

,

sea

'

ar e

parish

in Stepney )
A Sign is di urnal or nocturnal according a s its
power is greater by day or by night

i o n er s

In addition ev e ry Sign has an aspect towards

,

som e particular part of the human body

Aries is the principal and most important sig n

of all

In whatever scheme the S i gns are reckoned

Aries comes r st : consequently its aspect is to the

head

Taurus relates to the neck and shoulders

because a bull is in these parts v e ry robust

Gemini relates to the arms and h a nds because the

,

twins are represented as embracing and the

,

quality of embracing is in the arms and hands

Cancer pertains to the chest and the adj acent

parts becaus e a crab is very robust in the chest
,

and thereabouts

Leo pertains to the heart and

the mouth of the stomach b ecaus e the whole

,

virtue of

lion is in his courage

Virgo relates

to the intestines the base of the stomach and

,

umbilicus because the virtue of a virgin resides

,

therein

Libra relat e s to the kidn eys because

,

th e y lie equally ba lanced one on each side of the

,

Th e
!

spine

Pla nets

13

Scorpio refe rs to the genitals because the

,

whole virtue of the

corpion is in his tail

ca u d a li a

thes e are the

of

ma n

a nd

The aspect of

Sagittarius i s to the hips of Capricornus to the

,

kn ees of Aquarius to the l egs and of Pisces to

,

th e

feet th ese being the part s of the body as those

,

are the Signs that come next in order

,

TH E PL ANE TS

It is scarcely necessary to re mind this audience

that in the tim e when As trology came into being

th e

earth

w as

the centre of the univers e and the

,

Planets were s e ve n in number

U ranus and Neptune

be ing then a s un known a s Pallas and Cere s whi le

,

the sun and moon di ffe red from the other wandering
s

tars only in the ir greater size and lustre and in

,

the greater regularity of their movem ents

Th ere was a certain conve ntional order the

,

origin of which cannot now b e traced in which

,

the Plan e ts were always enum e rated ; an order

that does not correspond with their relative size
and importance for then the Sun would come rst
,

It is Saturn howe v e r that takes precedence and

,

is f ollowed by Jupiter Mars Sol Venus Mercury

,

A str o logy in

14

M edic i n e

and Luna in the order i n which I have named

,

them

The range of inuence of the Planets ove r

matters t errestrial was plenary

On

the whole

th e

term inuence best conv eys the meaning of the

Astrological term

aspect

corresponds with

which is more than

a te rm that is sometimes

substituted for aspe ct

Though as to some thi ngs

which th ey aspecte d or with which they corre

,

spon d e d ,

such as the Zodiacal signs and the four

elements the Planets were n either productive nor

,

regulative yet with respect to most things the y

,

were at least regulative and a s to many w e re

,

actually originating For instance Guy de Chauliac

.

called by Fallopius the fath e r of Surgery as

,

Hippocrates is

th e

the great plague of

father of Medicin e attribute d

,

1 3 45

to

th e

conjunction of the

three planets Saturn Jupite r and Mars i n Aquarius

,

on March

2 4th

of that year

Torella physician to Caesar Borgia and Pope

,

Al exander VI attributed syphili s to a peculiar

,

conj unction of the Planets

So does Basil Valen

tinus and so does Petru s Ma yn a r d u s who was able

,

moreover to predi ct that it would com e to an end

,

in

1 58 4

The College of Physicians of Paris

Jur is dic tio n

Pla nets

th e

attributed the Black D e ath of

1 3 49

l5

to a vapour or

fog generated by the struggle between the con

which combated the rays of the sun

stella ti o n s,

and the warmth of

th e

heave nly re stru ggling

,

violently with the waters of the great sea

This

vapour they said

will continu e to spread as long

as the sun is in

are of opinion that the

constellations with the aid of nature strive by

di vi ne

virtue of their
the human rac e

might to protect and heal

Taken togeth er the Planets had j urisdiction

,

ove r ev e rything but not indiscriminately

Each

Planet had its own p eculiar j uris di ction over some

things while oth er Planets divided betwe en them
,

thej urisdiction over oth e r things of that kind Like

.

th e

Signs of the Zo d iac each of the Planets had

,

a j urisdi ction over some part of the hu m an body

but this was only a small region of its sway

Every

Planet aspected its own element and its own

,

complexion or pair of elementary qualities so

,

that Saturn for instance was cold and dry Jupiter

,

hot and moist and so forth

,

Each Planet had its

own colour odour and taste ; each its

,

of animals and plants ; each its

o wn

o wn

groups

metal and we
,

still speak of Saturnine poisoning of crocus Martis

,

A str o logy in

16
and

M ed i e in e

of the metal Mercury ; each has its own plants

its own day of the week and hour of the day ; and
what i s more germane to the present purpose

every Planet had its corresponding humour part

,

of th e body sense faculty part of th e mind bo d ily

,

conguration and mental temp erament its time of

,

life and its peculiar diseas e s and mode of death

,

O ne or two instances will be enough to

exemplify the way in which sublunary affairs

are

apportioned among the Planets Tak e for instance

.

animals : of these Saturn has j urisdiction over the

,

ame! the bear the ass

,

th e

cat the owl

,

th e

bat

the tortoise the mous e the be etle ; and generally

over beasts of evil omen or of slo w mov e m ent

The aspect of Jupiter is to the wis e the swift and

,

th e

the strong : to the e lephant the stag and

,

Mars aspects the horse the wolf the bee

,

bull
,

th e

dog the ostrich venomous snakes scorpions and

,

spiders ; all eith e r ghters or noxious to human

beings

Sol presid es over regal and dominant

animals the lion th e e agle and the cock

,

Venus

has j uri s diction over the goat the she ep the

,

phea sant the partridge the pige on the dov e and

,

the sparrow ; all amatory and e ith e r polygamous or

,

otherw ise prolic

The aspect of Mercu ry is to

Jur is dic tio n

th e

fox the ape

,

17

th e

th e

serpent the parrot

a nt,

and ge nerally to animals that

th e

the bee and

Pla nets

th e

spider

are reputed wi s e or cunning

Luna inuences the

hare the swan the nightingal e

,

la n d sna ils,

crabs and sh ell sh

frog sh

and ge n e rally

th e

anim als that are nocturnal or aquatic

Of

plants Saturn has j urisdiction over the oak

,

the mespilus the rue the hell ebore and gen erally
,

over those of slow growth of narcotic virtue and

,

of crass substance

Jupiter over the laurel the

san d al wood the cinnamon the balsam and

th e

incense tre e
jalap

Mars over pepper ginger mustard

,

scammony

gen e rally over

Sol aspects

a ll

th e

th e

uphorbium

and

bitter plants and hot poisons

,

th e

Venus

olive

th e

pine the
,

rose and the pea ; Me rcury the corylus

m i llefo i l ;

and the

and Luna the cucumber the

,

gourd pepin fruits i

,

lettuce

palm rosemary h eliotrope crocus

and all aromatics

lily

colocynth

apple s and p ears and

The minerals of Saturn

stones ; of Jupiter tin
,

th e

lead and all black

are

apphir e and
,

th e

am ethyst ; of Mars iron jasper and magn esia ; of

S 0 1,

gold carbuncl es and

,

c r ys o li te

of Venus cop
,

per smaragdus turquoise and coral ; of Mercury

,

A s tr o logy in Medicine

18

quicksilver chalcedony and cornelian ; and of

,

Luna silver crystals be ryl and the diamond

,

I defer to the next lecture the consideration of

those plan e tary aspects that have a special bearing
upon medicine but this is perhaps the proper
,

place to make the very important distinction

betwe en the benevolent propitious or fortunate
,

Planets and those that are malevolent unpropitious

,

or unlucky

The fortunate or benevolent or

propitious Planets are Jupiter S 0 1 and Ve nus of

,

whi ch the rst and last are lucky in the highest

degree

Saturn Mars and Luna are malevolent

,

unpropitious and unlucky

this respect

Mercury is variable in

He has scarcely any character of his

own but he reinforces the benevolence or

,

malevolence

as

th e

the case may be of whatever

,

Planet may be in conj unction with him or may be

,

favourably aspected by

h im

It i s e vident if thes e premises are granted that

,

the course and termination of ev e ry malady in

every sick person depend on

th e

relative power

with respe ct to other Planets of the particular

,

Planet or Planets that have j urisdiction in the

matter

They will depend in the rst place on th e

,

Planet that has jurisdiction over the temperament

A str o logy in

20

M edicin e

This is by no means easy for the factors are

,

very numerous

It will be

nough to obtain an

approximate estimate however if we conn e our

,

consideration to the ten in the following enumera

tion

The power of a Planet at any given moment

depends on :
1

The Sign of the Zodiac in which it is

situated at that moment

The Sign of which the Plane t is Lord

The Sign s in

w hich

the Planet ascends

The House in which the Planet is situated

The House in which

th e

Planet rej oices

The pos ition or aspect of the Planet

towards other Planets

The Sign in which the Planet rej oices

or descends

The asp e ct of the Planet to the As

c en d en t

The motion of the Planet

direct or retrograde
10

The day and hour

as fast or slow

I n this estimation of the powers of the Planets

much depends on the Houses of Heaven and these

,

must be described before we can proceed

Th e

Ho uses of Hea ven

TH E HOU S E S

We

a ll

H EAVEN

OF

21

re cogni se that while the stars have an

,

apparent motion from the eastern horizon up to

the vertical meridian and down again to the
,

western horizon yet

,

th e

hori zons and the vertical

meridian keep their places with re spect to us and

,

do not mov e

The eastern horizon and the vertical

meridian enclose between them a fourth part of

the heavens whose content is continually changing
,

as the stars ris e above the eastern horizon and

reach and pass the meri di an

Similarly from the

,

meridian to the western horizon is another fourth

part ; and

th e

two remaining fourths are ben eath

the horizon and are divided from one another by

,

the infe rior vertical meridian all thes e fourth

,

parts remaining stationary while the stars occupy

,

them each in turn in the daily revolution of

heav en s

th e

Now imagin e e ach of th e se xed quarters

of heaven to be divided by three equi di stant

m eridians : the heavens
twelve parts six above
,

w ill

th e

th en be di vided in t o

horizon and

s ix

below

whose starry contents are continually changing

These twelve divi sions are the twelve Houses of

Heaven

A str o logy in

22

That i s to say they

M edicine

are

so if the meridi ans

which divide them meet at the north and south

poles of th e horizon of the place

and it was th e

usual rule in Astrology so to consid er them

it was not the invariable rule
put

th e

but

Some astrologers

me eting places at the c elestial pol es and

,

then the Houses w ere divided by

meridians

O thers put

th e

Zenith and the Nadi r of

or di nary

th e

meeting places at the

th e

place

It is manifest

that those astrologers who computed the positions

of the Planets in

on e

set of Houses must arrive at

,

very different results from those who computed

the positions in another set ; for a Planet might be

in one House according to o n e computation and in

,

a di ffe rent House according to another

That Hous e which is imm e diately below

e

th e

astern horizon so that the stars th e rein are the

,

next to ri se above the horizon is the rs t House

which is al so call e d th e A s cendent Hou se or shortly

the Ascendent

It is

th e

principal House the most

,

th e

powe rful House and takes rank ov e r all

,

The Plan e t or Planets that occupy

chi ey determine the fate of

th e

th e

native

oth e rs

A scendent
.

The re st

of the Hous es are known by numbers and fo llow

,

one another widdershins that is in the order

,

Cusp s

th e

rev e rse to the movement of

Th e

second and thi rd

and

th e

are

Ho uses
th e

hands of a clock

b etwe en

th e

th e

th e

lower v e rtical m eridian

and sixth betw e en

23
.

Ascendent

fourth fth
,

lower v ertical m eri di an and

w este rn horizon and so on until th e twelfth

hous e m e ets th e rst at th e e aste rn horizon
th e

Th e

anterior boundary of

meri d ian which

next is call e d
,

th e

th e

th e

ach Hou se

th e

tars in that Hous e will cross

cu sp of that House

and from

cusp the position of the Planets in the Hous e

is measured in degrees and minutes The cusp of

th e Asc end e nt Hous e is call e d th e horo s cope and
.

I may h e re corre ct a pre val ent e rror wi th resp e ct

to thi s term

It is customary to sp eak of casting

a horoscope as if that were a possibl e and usual

,

operation in As trology

What

m eant by

is

expre ssion is casting a nativity or genitur e

is to say s etting out on a plan of

,

H eav en the position of

,

and of the Plan ets in

th e

th e

th e

Signs of

that

Houses of
th e

Zodiac

respe ctiv e Houses that

th ey occupi e d at the moment of birth

we

th e

may cast a de cumbiture that is

,

we

Similarly

may set ou t

a similar plan for the mom ent a diseas e b e gins

and such an operation was as necessary in the daily

routine of a physician a s is now the taking the

A str o logy in

24

M edic ine

temperature of the patient

that

we

but it is manifest

cannot in this sense cast a horoscop e

for the horo s cope is but the cusp of

Asc en

th e

dent

Fi g 2
.

This is the most obvious method of s etti n g out

the Houses, but it was not usually adopted perhaps
,

b e caus e compasses were not common and circles

,

not so eas y to draw as straight lines

The

A spec ts of

Ho uses

th e

onventional gure on which

th e

heavenly bodies were always

s et

Fi g

25

positions of

th e

out was thus

,

Each House of Heaven like e ach Sign of the

,

Zodiac and each Planet has its special aspe ct

,

jurisdiction or inu ence ov e r human affairs

,

unli ke the Signs and the Planets

not

c o m ple xi o n a te

they

neither moist nor dry

are

th e

but

Hou ses are

n e ither hot nor cold

A str o logy in

26

M edic in e

Just as Aries i s the rst the most powerful and

,

important of the Sign s and Luna

,

th e

ful and important of the Planets so

,

most power
Asce ndent

th e

is the most pow e rful and im portant of

th e

House s

When a Plan e t is in the Asc endent its power is

,

paramount over all the other Planets wh e rever

,

they may b e
by them

still it may be strongly inuenc e d

,

The Ascendent is the House of proj ects

of the beginnings of things especially of j ourn eys

,

it is the House of life of movem ent and of ques

,

tions and answers

The second House is

of servants

Hous e of riches and

,

and signies the

the lessening of

th e

en d

years of life

The third House is

siste rs

th e

th e

of youth and
,

Hous e of brothers and

of acquaintance s and fri e nds

of changes

of kingdom s

of continuance of j ourn eys

of h eirs
;

of quiet

is the Hous e of pare nts ; of

of towns in which the native lives and

,

in which he is born and of his fate afte r

,

d eath

The fth House is the Hous e of childre n

eating and drinking

of games

pictures vessels and money

,

of r eligion and minist ers of religion

Th e fourth House

heredity

of ghting

of

of

The sixth House is the House of sickness and

A s tr o logy in Medicine

28

powerful than the

be

a n g u la r es,

good or propitious
,

the third

a n g u li s ca

th e

and are unpropitious and di s

,

now in a position to discov e r

th e

diminish e d
In

d en tes,

are

in wh ich

The remaining Houses

ixth ninth and twelfth are called

po sed to evil

We

but still d isposed to

power of a Planet

is

th e

ways

increas e d or

rst plac e

is

v e ry Plane t

relate d to

certain Signs of the Zodiac in three di ff erent

way s

First it has a Sign or S igns pe culiar to

itself which
,

are

called

th e

houses of the Planet

and of thi s house or of these houses the planet is

,

Lord

S e cond every Planet has a Sign in which it

,

rej oices

Wh e n situate d in any of thes e Signs and

,

especially wh e n in its house

Planet is au gmented

Third

th e
e

power of the

very Plan e t

is

ex

alted in a certain Sign and d epr e ssed in that which

,

is diametrically
Planet
one

is

pposite and the powe r of the

incre ased or dim inished according as

or the other of these Signs is in

th e

th e

Asc endent

For instanc e Saturn is Lord of Capricorn e ssen

,

ti a lly,

and of Aquarius accidentally

he rej oices

in Aquarius is exalted in Libra and depressed in

,

Aries

Conse quently his power is at its maximum

,

Th e H o us es

a nd

th e

Pla nets

29

when he i s in Capricorn and is augmented wh e n

,

he is in Aquarius

It is increase d when Libra

in

is

the Ascendent and su b du e d when Ari e s is in that

House Saturn ! chronos ) regulates th e be ginnings
,

of thi ngs especially of th ings relating to

,

th e

earth

such as planting so w ing ploughing and other

,

operations of agricultu re

Such operations ought

therefore to be begu n when Saturn has power a s

,

when he is in the Ascendent or in Capricorn or

,

Aquarius provided that Aries

,

dent

If Li b ra should

is

not in the A seen

be in the Ascendent however

such operations can scarcely fail to be successful

A hot Plan e t in a hot Sign will hav e its heat

augm ented ; but in a cold Sign its heat wi ll

be

re duced ; and so of the other e l em entary qualities

A moist Plan et in a humid Sign will
wet and
,

w ill

be

drippin g

aggravate diseas es due to moisture

We have se en that certain Hous es

are

more

propitious than others those namely whose cusp is

,

on the horizon or on one of the v ertical meridians

A benevolent Plan et will be doubly so wh en in a

propitious Hous e but will have little power to
,

benet when it is
Th e Hous e

Planet

in

in

an unpropitious House

in which it is situated inuences a

more ways than this

Every Planet has

A str o logy in

30

M edicin e

not only a Sign but a House also in whi ch it

,

j oices

and when it is in this Hous e

augmented

i ts

re

pow e r is

Mercury rej oices in the Ascendent

Lun a in the third Hous e Mars in the sixth Sol in

,

ninth Jupiter in the eleventh and Satu rn in

th e

the twelf th

Perhaps the most important factor in modifying

th e

power of the Planets and c ertainly the factor

,

to which the most importance is attached is their

,

relative position or aspect with respect to one

another and to
,

th e

Asc endent

The rst aspect of Planets to one another is

Conj unction which like other terms in Astrology
,

and i n its congener Logi c is not always used in

,

the same sense

th o r i ti es
2

15

Planets are said by some

to be in conj unction wh en they a r e within

of one another

of each other

by others when they are within

,

by others when they are in the

,

same Sign and by oth ers

,

same House
ever

au

All

are

w hen

they are in the

agre e d how e ver that when

Planet is within

15

of S O1 it is combust
,

O ther
wise when Planets of the s am e qualities are in
and its powers are for the time abolish e d

conjunction they corroborate and reinforce one

,

another

but when Planets of opposing qualities

A sp ec ts of

th e

Pla nets

31

are in conjun ction each cancels a part of the power

,

of

th e

other ; so that when a good Plan e t is con

j oined with

an

tempered and
.

vil one

th e

ta te d

th e

malice of this is

ben e vol ence of that is deh ili

One of my authoriti es Arnaldus

,

nova gives the following instance

,

de

Villa

When you

a re

anxious to begin some good work you should see

,

that Luna makes j u nction w ith benevolent Plan ets

or at any rate

we ll separate d from bad on es

is

but he who wants to do

vil a s for example to

,

poison a little girl or anything of that kind ought

,

to choose a time when Luna is conj oin e d with bad

or is separated from good Planets

Th e second aspect

is Sextil e This is when two

.

Planets are separated by a sixth part of the Zodi ac

or by two Signs

Such an aspect is moderately

frien d ly not manifestly but occultly or of hidden

,

benevolence

third aspect is Q uartile and is whe n a

Planet aspects another through three Signs which
Th e

is a fourth part of th e Zodiac Such an aspect

is of moderate or occult u nfriendliness or con
.

i c t

The fourth aspect is Trine when a Planet

,

aspects another from a distanc e of four Signs or a

,

A str o logy in

32

M ed icin e
This i s the aspect of

third part of the Zo di ac

warm friends hip and perfect benevolence

,

Th e last aspect is

O ppo s ition when one Planet is

,

distant from another by half the Signs of the Zo di ac

This is the most hostile aspect of all

it is the

aspect of open unfri endliness hatred and perdition

,

Every Planet has two movements

First it

partakes of the general mov em ent of the heavenly

bodies rising in the East and s e tting in the West
,

a movement due to
second it has its
,

th e p r i m u/m m o bi le ;

and

proper motion among the

o wn

stars which varies in rapidity and is sometimes

,

direct sometimes retrograde and sometime s

,

b o li sh ed ,

so that the Planet is stationary among

the stars

The speed of this proper motion varies

greatly Luna completing her cours e in

,

thereabouts and Saturn r e quiring

,

29

28

days or

ye ars

The

motion of the Plan ets is of much importanc e in

medi cin e for acute diseases whose cours e is rapid

are governed by the moon whos e motion is rapid

while chronic di s eas es whose course is slow are

,

governed by the sun whose course is like w ise slo w

,

If any Planet that is re gulating the course of a

disease should become retrograde in its motion the
,

patient will of course get worse

Ho ur s of
Lastly every Planet
,

Pla nets

th e
has

33

its hour in which it

,

domin ant ; and subj e ct to the dominance of

is

th e

Plane t that rules the hour every Plan e t dominate s

,

that day of

th e

w e e k of which

hour is

i ts

Thus Saturn dominate s compl et ely

th e

th e

rst

rst hour

of Saturday and in a le ss degr e e and subj e ct to

,

the inu ence of th e oth e r Plan ets the whole of th e

,

d i es S

bb a th u m

Jupite r rul es

th e

se

cond hour of

Saturday Mars the third and so on until Luna

,

dominate s th e sev enth hour and th en Saturn again

,

take s up

th e

tal e and rul es

,

th e

ighth

Th e

rotation is then continu e d so that Saturn comes

,

in again at

th e

fte enth and tw enty s econd hours

-

Jupite r follows at the tw enty third

-

twenty fourth which compl e te s

-

Plan e t on
th e

th e

th e

day

n e xt

whole of the

th e

followin g day whi ch is accord ingly

,

It

Th e

th e

rota is Sol which th er e fore tak e s

rst hour and in l e s s d e gre e

Sunday

Mars at

Di es S

o li s,

or

is

scarcely necessary to point out that e very

undertak ing to which any giv e n Plan et is propitiou s

ought to be be gun in th e hour in which that Plan e t

is dominant and if possible on

h is

operation s of

h u sbandry

hould

day

be

So all

begun

Saturday or if on any oth e r day th en in

,

th e

on

hour
3

A s tr o lo gy in

34

of Saturn

M edicin e

Wh e n writte n directions are giv e n a s

to any undertaking the Plan e t that is propitious

,

to that unde rtaking should

th e

be

signied so that
,

und ertaking whatev e r it may be

,

begun in the hour of that Plan et

be

may

If we give

writte n dire ction s for sowing s ee d or planting or

,

any of

th e

op e rations of husbandry

pre face our directions with

we

we

th e

th e

i n str u c

should re mind him of the

th e

hour and day propitious to

placing at

hould

si gn of Saturn

th e

If w e write to a commercial correspondent

tions to buy or s ell

transaction by

head of our instructions the sign of

Planet Mercury

Now th e Plan et that is most

,

propitious to the operation of l e tting blood and

,

to taking medicine is Jupiter

,

and

ther efore all

written directions for l e tting blood or admini s tering

medicin e should bear
sign of Jupiter is

I
!

th e

ign of Jupite r

th e

B , which still h e ads all our

prescriptions and te sti es to

,

n e xi o n

and

th e

intimate con

that existed aforetime between Astrology

and Medicine

If we keep at our nge rs ends the knowledge

we have now gained of the rudiments of Astro
logical lore we shall b e in a position to turn that
,

knowledge to practical use to erect a scheme of

,

A str o logy in

36

M edic in e

H ouse th e House of battles and of enemies

,

We

predict therefore that

,

No

j oys t h im paci c c pt r s yi eld

sou n d
th t m p h
he t
o

Wa r

s e

ru

e r us

th e

ld ;
e

Peace c u t h i han d b ut p ead h e cha m in ain ;

Thin k n th ing g i d h c i e ti ll n ght m ain !
o

r s

Fi g 4
.

a n

N ti vi t

Ca r o li D

s,

o d ec i m

ou

i , Reg i s S

re

u ec i w

Venus in the second House does not aspect

,

the native and exerts no inu ence over him

,

Charles

! II was

and

notoriously insusceptible to the

N a tivity of Ch a r les ! II

charms of love

37

He was a neglecter and despiser

of women

O er

fa
l d

o ve, o er

Un co n qu er d

or

t nd
plea u

ex e

e r

of

wi de d om ain
an d f pain

h is

re

Sol in the Asc endent pre dicts for the native

,

a n illustrious and gloriou s care er and equips him

,

with

th e

nec essary

qualities

A fr am e o f adam an t a soul o f e
No dange s fr ight h i m an d n o lab our s ti
r

re

h old
n ding king th i p w c m bin
An d
c ap i t lat an d
ign
But Mars is an unpropitious Planet a Planet of
ill omen and h i s pre sence in the House of battl e s
cannot but signify military disaste r Luna in
Be

sur r ou

one

e,

e r

o n e r es

e,

sextile to the Ascendent exerts an e vi l inuence

whi ch Jupite r sequestered in the s e cond Hous e

,

from exerting any counteracting sway is powerless

,

Wh at is th e inevitable cons e qu ence ?

c ol d h is c o u e delay
H e c om e
ot wa n t
o
H i de b lu h ing Gl o y h i d e Pu lt w s day
Th e va q i sh d h e o l e aves h i b oh n b an d s
An d h ew h i m i e i in distant land s ;
Co d em d a n eed y suppl ic an t to w ai t
Wh i l e ladi es in te p o se an d slaves d eb at e

to re strain

s, n

rs

s r es

Finally Saturn a very malevolent Planet is

,

most omi nously situated in

th e

ighth Hou s e the

,

Hous e of Death a ce rtain indication that death

,

A s tr o logy in

38

wi ll come early and

in

disastrous circumstances
le t

How true the indication

the po et testify

Chanc at l ngth h
m nd ?
Di d o ub t d m pi m a k h i
d ?
Di d i al m n a ch gi e th fatal w un d ?
O h ti l m i ll i n p
nd ?
h i m t th g
Hi fall w
d e ti d t a b a en t a n d
A p tty f t e an d a dubi us han d ;
H l ft a n am
at wh ich th e wo ld g ew pale
T p in t a m al
ad n a tale
Bu t

di d

M edicin e

n ot

os

or r

as

re

rr

ss,

r ou

s r

e,

or

e r r or

s en

r es s

er

ver e

r v

or

or

L ECTU RE II

H AV IN G di scovere d in

general principl e s of Astrology

position to

di scus s

th e

last L ecture

th e

we

now in a

are

their application to medicin e

We have already found that e v ery Zodiacal Sign

and e v e ry Planet

h a s i ts

own complexion or pair

,

of elementary qualiti es a s hot and dry hot and

,

moist cold and dry or cold and moi st an d that

e

ach has accordingly pow e r over

,

th e

correspond

ing humour ye llow bile blood black bile or

,

phlegm

We must now remark that among

pow ers of
s

Signs and

th e

th e

Planets

p e cially app ertai ning to m e dicine

omitted in

th e

pre vious revi e w

Each Plan et has

the dev eloping

i ts

f ce tu s,

are

th e

ome

that were

own p e cul iar powe r ov e r

and e xe rcis es thi s pow e r at

a ce r tain period of pr egnancy

Saturn

ha s

pow e r

in the rst month aft e r conception and by its own

,

frigidity ! Satur n bein g cold and dry ) i n fr ig i d a tes

the foetus coagulates it and dr ys it up so causing
,

arly abortions

Jupiter is potent in the second

A str o logy in

40

month and bestow s on

th e

n a tu r a

li s

Mars in

M edicin e

th e

mbryo the

i tu s

sp i r

third month suppli es the

,

concept with bo n es and gen e rally composes or a s

we

should say di ffere ntiates

,

organs

th e

Sol in

various internal

th e

fourth month

heart and
th e

Ve nu s in the fth month give s to

cept ear s eye brow s and pud e nda

,

sixth month open s

,

th e

Luna in the s e venth month causes

,

m ent of the lungs and

,

di vid e s

according to their places

con

M e rcury in

nose and mouth

th e

upplies

th e

conc ept with blood and perfe cts

live r

th e

th e

and

dev elop

the ngers and to es

After birth each Plan e t takes under its j uris

,

diction certain organs and tissues of the body and

,

certain faculties of the mind

and has more over

,

jurisdiction over certain di sease s and certain modes

of death

Saturn which is cold and dry and therefore

,

regulate s

black bile pres ides also ov e r the

th e

bones te eth cartilages the right

and

th e

bladd e r

th e

and over

ea r ,

th e

memory

spl ee n
It has

power of course ov er the diseases of th e s e parts

,

and in addition over quartan fever scabies lepra

,

tabes melancholia paralysi s icterus niger dropsy

,

cancer cough asthma phthi sis deafness of the

,

Jur isdic tio ns

right ear and h e rnia

,

U nd e r

Pla nets

th e

41

Saturn occur s udden

and violent d e aths by fall s pre cipitation ship

,

w r e ck ,

suffocation hanging lead poi soning and

-

d eath at

th e

hands of

Jupit e r

ha s

ture ov e r

th e

th e

ve in s

trunk
th e

public

th e

xe cution e r

j uri sdiction over the radical mois

blood

liver

th e

th e

pulmonary

diaphragm and the muscl es of the

,

over

th e

se

n se s of touch and sm ell

a pp eti tu s

judgm e nt and the

,

ove r

c o n cup i s c i bi li s

ove r the diseas es of th e s e part s and faculti es and

,

in ad di tion ov e r small pox angina inam mation

-

pl eurisi es and

r
i
m
n
i
o
e
n
eu
as
p
p

D e ath s due to the

inu e nc e of Jupit er occur in war in du el s and by

,

the command of Princes

Mars has power over

bladder
He

th e

left

prompts th e

due

hi s

to

ea r ,

th e

th e

y ellow bil e

th e

ga ll

pude nda and th e kidn eys

a pp eti tu s

inuence

i r a sci b i li s

Th e

di seases

acut e fe v ers plague

are

y ellow jaundic e convulsions h aemorrhages car

,

b u n c les,

cau se s d eath by w eapon s of st e el from

,

proj ectil es
animals

He

r e,

from

erys ip elas ulcer s and phage d aena

es

by beh e adi ng

mutilation

bite s of

pe cially v e nomou s animals

by

th e

slaughters and blood letting of ignorant surgeons

-

and death from burn s

A s tr o logy in M edicin e

42

Sol regulates the heart the arte ries the right

,

eye the right side in men and

,

wom e n
th e

th e

left side in

the vital spirits and the bilious blood

sight of

th e

right eye in

m en ,

in women and all good de sire s

,

and of the left

The dis e as es due

to the inuence of the sun are ephemeral fevers

syncope spasm catarrhs
,

nd diseases of th e eyes

When Sol causes d e ath it is by plague by syncope

,

or on the eld of battle

Venus presides over the pituitous blood and

semen

over the throat the breasts the abdomen

,

the uterus and genitalia

over taste and smell

touch and the pleasurable sensations and the

,

a pp eti tus

c on cup i sci bi li s

The diseas es due to

Venus are lues venerea

gonorrhoea priapism

barrenness from cold and moisture ! Venus b eing

cold and moist) lientery and abscesses Deaths
,

due to her inuenc e are those from poison and

from sexual

xcess

Mercury has j uris di ction over the animal spirits

over the legs and fe et the hands and nge rs the

,

tongue the nerves and

,

and hearing

th e

ligam ents

common s en s e

reas on The d is eases that

.

and relapsing fevers

he

imagination and

inuences

mania

ove r taste
are e

phre nitis

rratic

deliria

A s tr o logy in

44

M ed i ei n e

of a lunatic was a fatuous or de m ented person

who had neverth eless intervals of lucidi ty
,

and

though in common sp ee ch the m eaning b e came

generalis e d and the term was us e d to include all
,

in sane person s whate ver the natur e of their

,

in

anity and wh ether it was inte rrupte d or con

,

ti n u o u s,

yet lawyers

wh o

are

always both more

pre ci se and more cons ervative in

terms than oth e r

m en ,

th e

application of

continu e d to use

lunacy in its strict s ense till

th e

th e

t erm

middle of the las t

c entury

th e

With respect to

corporature or the bodily

,

conguration which with the corre sponding mental

,

disposition is asp e cted by the several Planets there

,

is much misapprehension and the true doctrine i s

corrupted and attenuated to a mere remnant We
.

are apt to consider that a Saturnine person is taci

turn cynical and disposed to be mal e volent
,

that

a J o via l person is good humoure d and hilariou s ;

that a M ercurial person is restless and vagrant not
-

continuing in

on e s

a soldierly bearing
his mind

tay
;

that a Martial p e rson has

and that a Lunatic is out of

and although we should not be wrong

in attributing these mental dispositions to the

persons so denominated

we

should giv e them but

Pla neta r y Temp er a m en ts

Th e

a tith e of

th e

connote

and

45

mental qualiti es the nam es actually

we

have forgotten altoge th e r not

,

only that th ere is a corporature or bodily con

,

guration that accompani e s and indicate s

m e ntal te mpe rament but al s o that th e re

ach
are

pers ons of Solar and Venere al temperament as

w ell
forth

as

thos e that
Th e

are

J o vi a l Saturnine and so
,

corporature and
,

th e

m ental disposi

tion that accompani e s and is signie d by it are

,

pre cis e and d etailed so that the expert astrologe r

,

can tell at a glance what sort of person he has to

d e al with and what Plan e t

has

j urisdict ion ov e r

that pers on s life fortun e s and h e alth

Thos e for instance who

,

th e

known by

Saturnine may be

are

following physical signs

th e y

moderately eshy of m e dium h e ight th eir

,

nances

are

c o u n te

long th eir ey e s large and black th eir

,

tee th very large

th e y are of dark comple xion

hav e scanty straight black hair thin beards

,

pige on to e d and of trucule nt be aring

,

affecte d by

th e

rature

profound thinkers

When

are

are

are

w ell

Planet persons of such a corpo

,

inv e stigators of

mysteries prudent reticent inclin e d to solitude

,

suspicious laborious pati ent pe rs e vering love rs of

,

work eager for gain and mast e rful

,

Wh e n ill

A s tr o logy in

46

M edicin e

aff ected by the Planet they are sad m elancholy

,

austere timid miserly querulous taciturn soli

,

th e

tary followers of
,

Black Art suspicious

,

un

truthful malevolent untrustworthy to the point

,

of fraudulenc e treacherous and often suffer the

,

penalties of the law for their misdeeds

The favoured of Jupit e r
e shy with rounded kn e e s
,

a r e,

rath er large

in conguration

th ey are of medium

statur e elegant and maj e stic in

plexion they are rosy

h ea r i n g

In com

their eyes are dark and

They are prone to baldn ess and

have thick reddish beards

When well

a e c te d

by the Plan e t such persons are simple j u st pious

,

religious

faithful

human e

merciful

hilarious

gracious open affable lib e ral splendid magn ani

,

When ill a ffected they

mous and law abiding

-

have th e se qualities in
sti ti o u s ,

xc es s

Th ey are su pe r

s entimental humanitarian prodigal and

,

vain glorious
-

The subj ects of Mars

tio n ed ;

are

thin and well propor

-

they are pale with blue eyes and abundant

,

curly hair not only on

,

th e

head but on

th e

body

They are of middl e stature with large h e ads round

,

faces small eyes large nostril s long te eth and

,

military be aring

Wh e n w ell

a ec te d ,

they are

Pla neta r y Temp er a m ents

Th e

strong robust brave

,

g re e dy

47

of fam e irascible

given to hunting and games vindictive impatient

,

of control domine ering delighting in war and

,

battl es

contemptuous of danger

agile ready
,

hasty s elf c o n d ent and indi ff ere nt to religion

-

When ill affe ct e d they

impious unjust arro

are

di tiou s foolhardy quarrelsome

brawle rs homicides tyrants inc endiaries robbers

gant m ercil ess

,

se

thi ev es and bandits

Th ose under the j urisdiction of Luna are tall

pale good looking with light hair and eyes and
-

with becoming be ards

are

When w ell

they

ingenious subtle sincere open honest and

,

w ell -mann e re d ;

wh e n

i ll

affe ct ed they

important to know that a s might

,

is when

th e

be

It

are

Here we

i ll
s ee

is

v ery

expected it
,

moon is waxing that th e y

affe cted and they

wan e

stupid

are

eve n to fatuity timid and restless

th e

a e c te d ,

well

are

affected when

sh e

is on

th e

th e

legal

origin of

doctrin e already alluded to that a lunatic is a

,

dement e d p erson who has lucid int e rvals th e se

,

intervals b e ing wh en
of her phas es whil e
,

th e

last two phases when

,

ght

is waning

th e

moon is in the rst two

p eriods of fatuity

sh e

is past

th e

are

the

full and her

,

A s tr o logy in

48

M edic in e

Th e vota ries of Mercury are charact e rised by

medium stature a well proportioned bo dy pleasing

-

complexion and yellow hair

,

They are graceful

with very small hands feet and te e th

,

scanty beards thin voices and

mov e ments

are

th ey hav e

rapid in th e ir

When well aff e cted th ey are witty

,

studious quick to learn even without b e ing taught ;

,

they are disputatious wise

,

cautious prud ent

easily accommodating thems elves to persons and

circumstances

aff ected th ey

are

sociable and inquisitive

Wh e n ill

unstable forgetful apt to have

,

hallucinations and to talk nonsens e liars para

,

sites

a tter er s,

deceitful

per d i ou s,

perj urers

calumniators forgers of wills coiners of false

,

money meddl e rs in things that do not concern

,

them and dangerous couns ellors

,

Under th e

j urisdiction of Venus are those of

me d ium stature succulent with delicate and fair

,

complexions good looking with crisp brown or

-

blackish hair dark ey e s narrow e yebrows narrow

,

chests and thick thighs

,

are indolent

peaceful

bland

When well affecte d th ey

pious

religious

merciful

ociable lovers of th e arts of singing and

,

of music elegant and graceful and given to de li

,

caci e s and pl easures

Th ey

are

lucky in love and

Pla neta r y Temp er a m ents

Th e

49

in friendship forgiving and impatient under mis

,

fortune

Wh e n ill affe cte d they are timid

prudent

women

ee m i n a te,

im

le ch erous and betrayers of

,

Lastly the charact ers of those who

a re

by the Sun

are

ruled

a large head a round and glowing

,

face large eyes long hair which at l e ngth falls out

,

and leav es them bald and a sallow complexion

,

When well affected th ey are pious j u s t upright

,

faithf ul open chaste worldly wi s e apt to ange r

-

but magnanimous honourable s pl endid and magni

,

c en t, warm

and children

in fri endship and lovers of their wi ves

,

It will have been noticed that the de scriptions

of the bodily congura tions

are

not v e ry denite

and we are warned by Ma n i n i u s to be v e ry careful

of j udging of
guration
th e

of

th e

th e

dominant Plan et by

body

Thi s

he

sci ence in which many fail

and it is not yet

con

ays is a part of

fully ascertained Th e knowledge is to

by long experi enc e only

th e

be

attained

Ma n i n i u s had inde ed,

,

good reason to inculcate caution in interpreting

the indications obtained from Astrological lore for
,

he

sought to clench the arguments with which he

was defendi ng Astrology from

M

th e

attacks of
4

A str o logy in M edic in e

Gass endi by predicting the death of the sceptic

,

upon a cer tain dat e

When the date came round

in due cours e Gassendi unexpe cte dly refus e d to

,

die and Ma n in i u s th e n discovered a mistake in his

,

calculation which had led him to antedate the

event

H e corrected th e error, r evised his predic

tion and xe d another and later date beyond

,

which

Gas se ndi could not survive

He seems

howev e r to have overlooked a second time some

,

material factor for his opponent lived on and

,

laughed him to scorn giving much occasion to

,

the e nemy to blaspheme

Ma n i n i u s unfortunately
,

lack e d the resource of D ean Swift who was con

,

th e

fronte d with

sam e

d i i c u lty

of the astrologe r Partridge

th e

by

Swift

survival

unde r the

pseudonym of Isaac Bick e rstaff predicted that

,

Partridge would die

on th e tw e nty ninth of March

-

n e xt about eleven at night of a raging fever

,

and when the date

,

s ta n ti a l

wa s

past published a circum

,

account of the death with a confession by

,

Partridge of the imposture of his pre d ictions

vain Partridge de nied

th e

facts for
,

In

Bi c k er sta

gav e ve conclus iv e reasons for disb elieving these

protestations
wa s

and for holding that Partridge

in fact dead and in denying

,

th e

fact had

A str o logy in

52

M edic i n e

that I have ventured to make in accordance with

hi s

rules

Be that as it may the factors that he

enumerates as necessary for the perfect physician

,

to consider are these

,

The thing concerning which the inquiry i s

made

The Sign that is in the Ascendent

! Whether of the Sign or of

the Ascendent is not clear )

The Lord of it

Th e Sign that is in the Hous e of the thing

inquired about ! In the case of sickness

this may be either the rst Hou s e the
.

House of Life
of Death

or the eighth the House

,

or the sixth the House of

,

Diseases )
.

! Again whether of the

Sign or of the House is not clear )

The Lord of it

Its

r e lation to the Ascendent

Its relation to the Moon

These

a re

to b e interpreted in the following

manner :
I The Ascendent and the Lord of it signify
.

the sick
2

m an

The middle of Heaven ! the tenth House )

signi es his physician
.

M edica l
3

A s tr o logy

53

The sixth House and the Lord of it signi fy

his disease

The fourth Hous e and the Lord of it signify

his physic

The consequences are thes e

If

there is evil in

As ce nde nt or if the Lord

th e

of the Ascendent is subj ect to adverse inuences

the patient will do badly ; but if these are pro

pitious he will do well
,

If there should b e a benevolent or propitious

Lord of the tenth House which signies

th e

physician th e n his treatm ent will do the patient

,

good

but if the Lord should be evil then the

patient will be injured by

th e

treatm ent

If there should be a powerful inuence for good

in the eighth Hous e which is the House of D e ath
,

the patient will be quickly cured

should

go fro m

be

but if there

a n evil inuen c e in this Hou se

bad to worse

he

will

Similarly if th ere
,

is

good fortune in the fourth

House which is the House of R em e di e s his medi

,

cine will do him good but if evil fortune the

,

medicine will make him wors e

If the Sign in the Ascendent should be mobile

and Luna should b e in a mobile Sign such as Aries

A str o logy in

54

M edic ine

Ca ncer Libra or Capricorn and the Lord of th e

,

Ascendent should al so b e in a mobile Sign the

,

illness will soon terminate

ither well or badly

especially if Luna is in swift motion

If however

it happens contrarily it signies a long illnes s

,

especially if Lu n a is in a stable Sign a s Taurus

,

Leo Scorpio or Aquarius

,

If

th e

Lord of the Asc endent should

be

pro

pitious and free from advers e inuences of other

,

Planets and Luna likewis e the illness will end

,

favourably,

es pecially if Luna and the Lord of the

Ascendent should aspect favourably

th e

that

th e

Lord of

ighth House which is the Hou s e of D eath

,

i s,

if they should

in sextil e and especially

be

if they should be in trine to that Hous e

,

But if Luna or
,

th e

Lord of the Ascende nt or

,

the Lord of the House of Sicknes s which is

th e

sixth should be combust and re trograde or if

th e

Lord of

th e

A s cend e nt should

be

in the House of

Death in conjunction with Mars or Saturn both of

,

them malevolent Planets th e n th e re is no hope

,

Also if the moon should be in conj unction with

,

a propitious Planet in the Ascenden t and should

,

be moving forward and her light waxing and both

,

hould b e free from adverse inuences then the

M edic a l

A str o logy

dise ase will be quickly cured

55

but if

should b e in the House of Death

cannot be sav ed

pati ent

th e

Lord of

As c ende nt

moon

th e

And generally whenever Luna and

th e

th e

are

subj e ct to adver s e inu enc e s it

,

is a mortal sign and we must fear d eath or relapse

,

or long illn es s

but wh en th e y

fortunat ely

are

situated and aspect e d by w ell di spos ed pow ers as

-

wh en Luna and

Lord

th e

are

then it is a good sign and

in

th e

vi ta

As cendent

But if th e Hous e of Death and the Lord of the

,

Hou se of

In r m ity,

or

th e

Lord of the House of

Death are forti e d by situation or by aspect

,

speciall y wh e n the y aspect the moon advers ely

th e n it is a bad sign and

,

th ey

d m o r tem ;

imp eded or w e aken e d it

are

Now

th e

but when

a good sign

is

po sition of the heav e nly bodi e s in the

Hou s es of Heave n alte rs from hour to hour and a

,

fatal disposition of them now may alter to a fav our

a

bl e one

a coupl e of hours and

in

vi c e

ver s a

Luna which is now in the A sc endent and th ere fore

,

mil e s upon the pati ent will in fourte en or fteen

,

hours tim e

be

him to d eath

in the eighth House and cond emn

,

It is manifestly of the utmo st

im

portance th ere fore to x upon the corre ct hour

,

A str o logy in

56

M edic in e

and minute for setting up the

ta b u la cceles ti a r u m

It is to be feared howe ver that in this matter

,

astrological physicians allowed themselve s a good

d eal of latitud e

There are two xed moments

one or other of which should be tak e n as that on

O ne of thes e

which the scheme should

be

is the moment of birth

the other is the

r cte d

e e

ture
It will be seen that the scheme of

d e cu m b i

of Charles

! II sets

th e

nativity

forth the y e ar the month the

,

day hour and min ute of birth and the scheme is

,

rected accordingly and admits of no doubt or

,

variation

There was how e v e r a process known

,

to Astrologers by

th e

nam e of R e ctication of

Nativity a process the rules of which

,

to discover but
,

th e

are

th e

difcult

practical re sult was to shift

the heavenly bodi e s from positions that were

in

conv eni ent to the Astrologer to positions more

suitable to his purpose

I should n e ver my s elf

make an alte ration of thi s nature which does not

,

s e em to me quite j ustiabl e but embolde ned by

,

this

tu r e d

stablish e d a strological practic e I have

,

v en

to make a triing alteration in the s cheme

of nativity that I have placed before you a s that of

Charles ! II As originally erected, it refer red not
.

Th e N a tivity

to

th e

year

16 82

Ch a r les ! II

but to the y e ar
,

previous

ing of Swe den

and to

1 5 9 4,

mom ent of birth not of Charles

! II,

nam ely

57

th e

but of a
Gustavus

Adolphus the Lion of the North and the Bulwark

,

of th e Protestant Faith

In working it out I found

that by no inge nuity and by no artice coul d I

mak e th e predictions to be drawn from this scheme
of nativity t in with the known caree r of that
great and
howe ver

ucc ess fu l commander

w ith

pr i a ten ess

Th ey suited

such surprising accuracy and appro

h is

the car ee r of

successor Charles

! II

that I felt it was a pity to allow myself to be

fettered in applying them to him by a punctilio of
,

nee dless scrupulo sity

that liberty with

th e

I did not v e nture to tak e

facts that astrologers were

accustom e d to take by alte ring the positions of

,

th e

h e av enly bodi es in

m erely

th e

Hous e s of Heav en

altere d the date by le ss th an a century

and substitute d the name of one

for anoth e r
In

in g of Swe de n

stimating the s chem e of the h eav en s

lating to

th e

illn ess of a patient it

,

is

re

always

advi sable to compare it with the schem e of his

nativity

If that Plan et which was Lord of the

A s cendent in

th e

nativity is favourably placed and

A str o logy in

58

M edicine

fortunately aspected in the scheme of the

d ecu m b i

ture and is n eith e r combust nor retrograd e the

,

patient will b e strength e ned and liv e and

,

ver s d

vi ce

Th es e

are

th e

consid erations that should weigh

with a p e rfect physician

but the authority I am

now quoting from lived seven ce nturies ago and

,

the world was v e ry di ff erent th en from what it is

now

It would appear that in tho s e remote and

b enight e d times th er e actually w e re physicians

who were not perfe ct and to temp e r the dif culties
,

of astrological practic e to th ese we aker brethren

th ey were taught a m ethod of procedure that
shorter and easi e r but le ss accurate
,

is

It will hav e

been noticed how promin e nt a place is assigne d to

th e

moon in the explanation s that hav e be en given

although in setting up
mention

wa s

mad e of her but

,

in togeth e r with

th e

wa s

ch e me no

sh e

se

parate

was just lump e d

other Plan e ts which had

pr e sumably e qual valu e

power

th e

xc ept in as far as their

subdued or e nhance d by th eir position

In the modied and abbre viated sch em e that was

drawn up for
ti o n er ,

th e

guidanc e of

th e

the whole burd en lay upon

gen eral
th e

p r a c ti

moon

It

was recognised that a bu sy practitioner could not

A s tr o logy in

60

M edicine

only administered but prepared for their virtues

,

are not in themselv e s but

,

are

part of the celestial

virtue communicated from the celestial bodies

from which all virtu e s are derived

So that rete n

tive m e dicines such a s sugar of roses d i a c ito n and

,

d i a pa pa ver ,

should be prepared a s well a s

a d m in i

when one of th e se cold and dry si gns is in

s t er e d

the Ascendent or when the moon is in

,

one

of them

If how e v e r we wish to re inforce the expulsive

,

faculty as for instance in constipation or

,

r h oea ,

a m en o r

the medicament must be prepared and

administe red when Luna is in Cancer Scorpio or

Pisces or when one of them is in the Ascendent ;
,

for these Signs are cold and moist

must be careful however

,

In this case we

for if a purgative is

given when the motion of Luna is retrograde the

,

expulsion will be re trograd e and instead of purga

,

tion we shall caus e vomiting

but if we are so

incautious and ignorant a s to give purgatives wh en

the moon is retrog rade in

Le o ,

which has an aspect

to the heart and blood we shall produce vomiting

,

of blood

Di s eases of plethora are ve ry dangerous when

a man is taken sick upon

a f ull moon

and diseases

of wasting are most dangerous when he is taken

Th e M o o n

a nd

Hum o ur s

th e

sick upon a waning moon

61

Let me entreat you

therefore to give physic for inanition wh e n the

moon is near the fu ll and for ple thora wh en she
,

has lost her light

and remember that a humour

moon
is wanin g nor in creased exc ept when sh e is
th e

can scarcely be diminished but wh e n

,

waxing

It is very bad when in

,

th e

beginning of a sick

ness the moon 1 s m a Sign of

,

th e

nature of the

peccant humour as in the hot and dry Signs Ari es

,

Leo or Sagittarius when the peccant humour is

,

choler ;

th e

cold and dry Signs Taurus Capricorn

,

or Virgo wh e n it is melancholy ; the hot and moist

,

Signs Gemini Libra or Aquarius when it is blood ;

,

or the cold and moist si gns Cancer Scorpio or

,

Pisces when it is phl egm

,

Naturally wh e n
,

sh e

is in a ery Sign it is e asy

,

to amend a disease of phlegm but if choler abound

,

wait u ntil she is in a watery Sign

We see therefore how very important it is to

,

consider

th e

aspect of the heavens before w e begin

our treatment

and though it is true that patients

do sometimes recov e r under the care of ignorant

physicians who take no account of thes e things

yet in such cases s ay s my authority the patient

,

A s tr o logy in

62

M edicin e

recovers by accident and not by the skill of the

,

phy sician

An additional reason for studying the motion

of the moon in illness is because this motion regu

lates the critical days

A crisi s is dened a s a

swift and vehem e nt motion of a disease leading to

,

recovery or de ath

Strictly speaking those only

are tr u e crises which lead to re covery but

in

accuracy and corruption have crept into the mean

ing until some authors enumerate six kinds of
,

crisis which I need not enumerate here

,

but all

authorities are agreed and their agreem e nt seems

,

to me to arise from e veryone copying the words of

h is

predecessor that for a true and perfect crisis

,

six conditions must be fullled

I n the rst place the crisis must be complete

,

that is to say the whole of the

,

m a ter i a p ecc a n s

must be evacuated ; for instance all the bile in

,

tertian fever and all the phlegm in quotidian fever

,

If the whole of the

m a ter i a p ec ca n s

is not

e va c u

ated it is evident that the patient may relapse

,

The second condition is that none of the pec

cant material should remain
quite as important
be evacu ated

as

This is evidently

the rst that all

,

of

it should

Cr itica l

Da ys

63

The third condition is that health must b e

completely regained and there must be no terribl e
,

accid ents or
eyes

er
n
e
i
ca
b
lib u s,
p

such as running of the

Th e fourth condi tion

is that the crisis must

be

be mani fes t ; that is to say th e re must

,

ensibl e evacuation of

th e m a ter i a p ecca

ns

The fth condition is that the crisis must mak e

indication and a s to the m ean ing of this I have
,

come aft er long and careful study to the con

,

lusions on anoth e r subj ect arrived at by my

authority and piou sly expre ssed by him in the

,

words

D eu s

so lus

c og n osci t,

c a p u t neque ca u d a /m

qu i a

h a b et

nequ e

The sixth condition is that the crisis must

occur on a critical day

The critical days are governed entirely by the

motion and position s of the moon

It is clear that

there can be no cri si s for good except

p ecca

n te coc td ,

p ecca n s

m a ter i a

cannot be digested in as short a time as

cons e qu ently the rs t and second d ay s

two day s
of a

and it is evident that the

m a ter i al

di sease

cannot b e critical

The third day

is

intercadent and the fourth is indicative because

,

manifestly whatev er happens on

,

th e

fourth day

A str o logy in M edicine

64
w ill

happen with exagge rated force on the seventh

The fth day again is intercadent and of no

,

signicance nor is
,

sixth of any

th e

The seventh

is the rst critical day for then the moon is in

,

quartile to the decumbiture and

,

is

necessarily in

a Sign of opposite nature in all respects to that in

which she was at the decumbiture

If

sh e

was in

Aries at the decumbiture she will be on the

,

seventh day in Cancer

Now Aries is hot and

dry Cancer cold and moist ; Ari e s is masculine

,

Cancer feminine

Aries diurnal Canc e r nocturnal

,

The quartile aspect is thus thoroughly hostile and

,

whatever process Luna favours at the decumbiture

she will oppose when she reaches the quartile

At

the decumbiture she favoured the di sease for

,

other wise

th e

disease would not have occurred

at the quartile therefore she opposes the disease

,

and makes for a favourable crisis

The eighth day is neutral the ninth

,

i n ter c a

dent the tenth neutral and the eleventh indicative

,

for whatever happens on the eleventh will happen

with e xaggerat e d force

on

th e

fourteenth which is
,

the second and most critical day for then the

,

moon is in oppo s ition to the decumbiture and

,

with all her might counteracts all that took place

D ecum b itur e

Th e

at the decumbiture
course the twenty
,

65

The next critical day is of

when she is again in

r st,

quartile and nally betwee n the twenty seven th

-

and twenty eighth she comes into conj unction

If

d isease h a s

the

not been

nd ed by crisi s on

one

of the three critical days the reinforc ement that

,

it now r e ceives from the conj unction of

th e

moon

converts the acute dis eas e into a chronic and

,

henc e forth it is gov ern e d no longe r by

th e

posi

tions of the moon but is regulated according to

,

th e

the sam e laws by

,

s un

not tak e place th er efore for

sun will be in quartile to

The n ext crisis

tw o

th e

month s when
,

d e cumbiture

will
th e

O f course the favourable or unfavourabl e

,

character of

th e

crisis will d epend largely upon

whether on the critical day

,

th e

moon is favour

ably aspecte d by good Planets or unfav ourably

,

inu ence d by bad ones

It wi ll be seen that all of these inuences and

dates depen d upon

th e

momen t of the d ecu m b i

ture which is described a s

,

of the invasion of

th e

diseas e

says is very hard to nd

,

nd the decumbiture in
say the tim e wh en
,

th e

th e

th e

rst punct of time

and this a s Galen
,

It is easy inde ed to
,

literal

se

n s e that is to
,

pati ent takes to

h is b ed ;
5

A s tr o logy in

66

M edic in e
th e

but when the beginning of

says Culpepe r is the question

,

sickn e ss is that
,

for a lusty stout

man b ears the disea s e longe r before he tak es to

his bed than a puny sickly man
s i c k n es s e

of

a me e r

su spi ti o n

will s e nd a faint heart e d man to bed

-

you may p e rswade him he is sick wheth e r he is or

no

Notwithstanding in most acut e di seases a s

also in many others as Falling Sickn e ss Palsies

,

Apoplexies and Pleurisies

,

nd

th e

precise time of

tis an

a sy thing to

invasion of a disease

th e

The best opinion is that that mom ent of time is to

be taken in which a man nds a manife st paine or
hurt

his body

in

for instance when a

got a Fe v er usually
,

b e fore

hath

head akes certain dayes

this is not the Fev e r but a messenge r or

fore runner of
wh en a

th e

man

h or r o u r

th e

Fev e r

the true begi nning is

or trembling invade s the Sick

C ertain obj ections to th ese doctrines did not

e s cap e
them

th e

notice of the astrologe rs who taught

the crisis depe nds on th e

moon and her aspect to the othe r

If says one
,

motion of th e

Plan ets what is the reason if two men be taken

,

ill at one and the same tim e that

,

one falls out well and not so

,

reasons are manifold

e
y t

th e

the crisis of

oth e r ?

Th e

The virtue working is

A s tr o logy in

68

M edic ine

nativity the disease is dangerous

,

be aspected by Jupiter or Venus

not so if she

or Saturn may

be Lord of one nativity and not of the other and

,

then he may hurt the one and not

the Devil will not hurt his own

If

get the nativities you shall not err

,

I know

says my authority

at one and the sam e time

'

th e

other for
,

you can po ssibly

.

For e xample

thre e children born

At ve y e ars of age

they all three had convul s ion wh e reby they were

,

all three lame of one leg

and the girl on the left

th e

At

boyes on th e right
14

they dyed alto

gether on one and the same day of the small pox

To us with our present knowledge and require

,

ments of evidence and our ways of thought

,

a ll

this appears such a farrago of tomfoolery that it

is di i cul t to understand how it can hav e been
seriously entertain e d by men of ordinary i n telli
gence ; and yet we know that it was in fact b e
li e ve d

by the rarest intellects of their time some

,

of them like Roger Bacon and Albertus Magnus

,

among the rarest intellects of all time

and it

is an interesting exercis e to try and carry our

minds back and put ourselves a s far as we can in
the position of our fore fathers

We shall th e n

nd it e asy to understa nd why the system was

Willia m Ha m ilto n s Dic tum

S ir

69

maintained and not di fcult to discover how it

,

originated

The rst is explained by the over

whelming power of authority the last by the belief

,

that was overthrown by Copernicu s

In the rst plac e we must imagine ours elves

,

living on an earth that is

vers e and that to the

human inhabitants
se rvient

Th e

c e ntre of the uni

arth and

es

rest of th e

th e

uni v erse

certain purpose

th e

'

p e cially to its

u n i ve r s e

is sub

cre ated to serve a

wa s

the di a pason closing full in man

That anything could exist for any oth e r purp ose

than the service of mankind was not conceiv e d

w as

probably not conceivabl e by our forefathers

,

At a time almost within

livi ng

on e

that in

th e

th e

m emory of some now

of our le ading philosophe rs de clare d

world ther e is nothing great but man

If he had expr e ssed all that was in

doubt he would hav e

declaration as
It

he

h is

mind no
,

but taking the

made it it s ummari se s
,

e ffe

ctiv e ly

attitude of our ance stors towards the cosmos

wa s

mad e for th e ir b en e t

u r es

er

or

ra

ves o

or

s s

To th em there was

no gre ater paradox than that

f p
t y seren e
F ll m n y
g m
Th da k
f o e n bea
n fath m d c a
F ll m any a w
i s b n t b lu h n seen
An d wa te ! m a k th w d) i t w tne
u

aid in the world there is

nothing great but Scotchmen

th e

ee

r,
,

ss on

th e

de er t ai
s

A s tr o logy in

70

M edicin e

This being so of what

u se

bodies ?

are

heavenly

th e

The overpowering and incalculable value

to man of the

sun

is evident enough

By its daily

transit through the sky it makes the diff erence

bet w e en the day the tim e of man s activity and

night the tim e of his repose

,

By i ts annual transit

through the Signs of the Zodiac it makes the

di fferenc e s among

th e

seasons and so regulate s his

,

food supply whether animal or vegetable his com

,

fort and his w elfare in a thousand particulars

,

Here

we

have the root of the whole matter

but

to understand it fully we must remember th at the

sun was but one of seven Planets all resembling
,

him in so many important re spects that it was

im

possible not to attribute to them powers corre

spo n d in g

with his if
,

d i er en t

from his

So that

if the sun had power over the affairs of men so

,

had the oth e r Planets

ing to the Sign

he

if h i s power vari e d accord

occupied

so

did theirs

if his

powe r altered with his h e ight above the horizon

so did th eirs

In a world in which natural law was

unknown and everything seemed to happen by

,

chance the mind clutch e d at anything that o ff ered

,

an explanation of the ways in which things happen

Here was an explanation r eady to hand and need
in g only study and interpretation
,

Or ig in

A
l
gy
s
t
r
o
o
f

71

The moon is evid ently complementary to

sun

H er

sh e

pow e r is gr eate st when

tion and at this time

,

sh e

th e

is in Opposi
th e

antagonis es

sun by

producing a colourabl e imitation of daylight at

night and thus interfering with his power of regu
,

lating light and darkn es s Thi s is naturally tak e n

a s a n instance of a ge neral law that opposition
means antagoni sm a m eaning that is now become
.

xed and gen e ral

and s inc e Opposition is but one

of several differences of position it follows that

,

every such differ ence trine quartile and sextile

,

m eans some diffe rence of inuenc e

Again the

moon a s far a s her pow e r e xt ends an tagonises the

,

sun and works against him

,

festly

su n

is mani

and immense ly b enecial to the human race

and is a ben e vol ent powe r

cons e quently the moon

,

is mal e volent and inj urious

are

But the

Both

su n

and moon

but sampl e s and m embers of

th e

family of

Plan ets and what ev er characters they possess

,

must

be

shared by

th e

rest of the family

The

other Plan e ts th erefore must be b enevolent or

,

male volent in their degr ee and mu st e xerci se their

,

pow ers as the

,

su n

and moon do according to their

,

po sition above the horizon that is in the Houses

,

of H eav en or in
,

th e

Signs of th e Zodiac

A str o logy in

72

M edicin e

As the sun undoubtedly by its position and

movements produces the seasons and a s the moon
,

has faculti es and qualiti e s of lik e kind though

,

inferior in power it follo w s that

,

sh e

too regulat e s

ome natural phenom e na of minor importance to

the seasons

Such minor natural ph enomena are

displayed by

th e

moon regulate s

weather

th e

th e

and

weath e r is

th e

b e lief that the

one astrological

doctrine that still displays vitality

Th e

oth e r

Plan e ts are irregular in their movements being

,

now rapid now slow now dire ct now r e trograde

clearly therefore th e ir inuence will be exerted
,

upon those great natural events that

and occasional in their incidence

are

irr egular

and thus it is

that Saturn produc es intense frost inundation s

,

and tempests

that Mars regulat e s thund e r and

lightning and the invasion of pirate s

that Venus

brings benecial oods rain s and mists

,

that

under M e rcury occur droughts and squalls and

,

so forth
All these catastrophes have their effects on the
.

welfare and fortune s of

m en ,

and cons onantly with

the belief already stated were conclusively

,

pr e

sumed to take place for no oth e r purpose than to

a e c t,

in one dire ction or other

th e

lives and

Pla nets

Th e

fortun e s of

m en

a nd

Disea se

73

It would be strange if after

being credited with thes e powers for this purpose

th e

Planets

no t further endowed with the

w e re

powe r of causing tho se catastrophes equally

,

explicable otherwis e

in

and still more affecting

human welfare plagu e pestil ence and all other

,

dis e ases

In order to produce disease s the Planets must

,

inu enc e

humours by whose de fe ct or exc ess

th e

di s eases w ere produced

en ti a n o n su n t

and sinc e

m u ltip li ca n d a p r a eter

n ecess i ta

tem ,

the Planets

could not inuence thes e humours e xce pt by them

selves possessing and distributing the same el e
mentary qualities h eat cold drought and moisture
,

that characteri se
the easi e r to

es

th e

humours

This doctrine was

tablish s ince it was already known

that these four qualiti e s p ervade all things in nature

Th e

very elem ents th ems e lves out of which all

,

things are compounde d are but

,

th e

mbodiments of

four e le m entary qualiti es in their four possibl e

combination s

Fire

is

hot and dry Air is hot and

,

mois t Earth is cold and dry Water is cold and

,

moist

humours

When it is r emembered that the four

are

similarly compound e d yellow bil e

,

being hot and dry blood hot and moist black bile
,

A s tr o logy in

74

M edic in e

cold an d dry and phlegm cold and moist it b e

,

comes evident

even if it were not already c ertain

from the univ e rsal pre valence of these qualities

that corresponding pairs must be possessed by the

several Planets to give them those powe rs ov er
disease that th ey undoubtedly
useful method of

th e

c i r c u lu s

xercise

i n p r ob a n d o

the only device that our forefathers

u
a
h
d
e
t
e
q

This

is not

h ave b e

to us and that still serves our purposes

,

with all its original

we

When

e i ca c y

have got thus far the remaining

,

doctrines of medical astrology follow naturally by

the development and elaboration of those we
already possess aided by further analogies more
,

or less far fe tch e d and by chance coincidences

-

such a s that alre ady mentioned which led Guy de

Chauliac to attribute the great plague of

1 3 45

to

the conjunction of Saturn Jupiter and Mars in

,

Aquarius in March of that year

We should tak e a v e ry
Astrology howe v e r if
,

we

upercial view of

failed to re cogni s e that

beneath all its strange doctrine s and unde r all its

,

monstrous assumption s li es the in satiabl e craving

,

of the human mind for explanation

that happens before

us

Every event

throws down an irresis tible

A s tr o logy in

76

M edici ne

explain hysteria entertained in middl e ag e b y

some sexual irre gularity committe d in youth ; or

who e xplain an hypoth e tical increas e of appendi
by an hypoth e tical in c re ase in

c i ti s

th e

c o n su m p

Surely we hav e every right to

tion of meat

despise tho s e who attributed all acu t e diseases to

the inuence of the moon and all chronic dis eases
,

to the inue nce of

sun for we know with

th e

assured knowle d ge that acut e diseases a re in fact

produced by intestinal
diseases are

tasi s and that chronic

,

to that blessed combination of

due

words alimentary tox aemia

AS T ROLOGY

IN

M ED ICI NE
LANCET

To th e E d i tor of TH E
S IR, I

t that wi th you well k n wn lo f fai play

wi ll kin dly p m i t m e t m ak a f w m a k s o n thi
y
k D M e ci
bj c t an d t
a few qu ti n f p bl ic
int st
Wi th all
p c t f th l a ned d c t an d wi th d e
ack n wl dgm n t f h i c andi d adm i i n that t l gy w
beli d in d i u ly tudi d by th a t int ll c t f
m
f th m li k R g
th i tim
Bac n a n d A l b tu
Magn th a t in t ll ct f all tim I wi h t k D
D M e ci
th ink that such a t int ll ct w ere incapab l f
di ting i hing t uth f m
an d c ld ha acc pt d th e
p ti ti n a ci at d in th i day wi th a t l gy ? S el y
t l gi
t Th y acc pt d
Ba c n ! L d Ve l am )
acc pt d i t a pa t f ph y i c an d di c a d d p titi n
O
m ight
a n ably p oclai m m dicin n waday t b e
o

er

ou

as

r es

or

su

er e

rus

ve o

re

er

es

s er o

an

eve

e r

or ,

ss o

as r o o

e r

r es

as

s o

'

e,

e r

u s

no

ne

r es

sso

ro

as

a s r e so

r es

o as

e o

ou

ve

ur

s ro o

oes

a sa n a a s

er

e r

as r o o

er

e,

er r o r ,

s o

er

er s

e o

e r

us ,

su

so

ru

or

su

er s
s

Co r r esp o nden ce

77

l y
g n d f th e up ti ti n c nnec ted
th
wi th i t f m ly D M cie c nd m n t logy an d p
d ad t i lly D M e ci
n ly a g m en t
e it as
ag in t as t l ogy on ci n ti c g nd i th w n t an d
utt ly n f n d d a er ti n that i t w o th wn by C p
o m foo er

on

or

er

ro

er

n i cus

r ou

as

n o un c s

er

er s

er s o

ver

as

ro

r ou

s as r o

ss

c a

ou

or

ou

ro

er

that m inent m a G y
d Chaul i ac that th
utb ak f th Black D ath in th
m i d dl
f th f
t n th c n tu y w d t th g at
junc ti n f S atu n Jupi t an d Ma in Aq i on
Ma ch 2 4th 1 3 45 N pt n w al in th am ign at
that tim plan t unkn wn th n S ch a d yph y f
g at plan t in Aq i a ign which i f un d t lat
to pi d m ic di a
c tainly f had w d th utb ak f
a pan d m ic ; an d i f D M ci wi ll c m pa th p i d
f g at c nj nc t i n in A qua i
h
wi ll n d that g at
pid m ic lway c inci d d th wi th If D M e ci h d
di ct d att nti n t th im m n d iff nc m ad b y th
disc e y f U an an d N ptun h w ld ha e c gni d
that m any m i tak f anci n t an d m di al a t l g w e
th i b eing n awa f th xi st nc an d elati
d
t
p iti n f th di tan t plan et
I h p D M e ci wi ll f gi m f di cting att n ti n
I m u that h e m ean t t b
fai
t th ab v p in t
p ibl in h i d lin ati n f m di val ast logy : in fac t h e
p d thi int n ti n by th la t pa ag aph b t
f hi
c n d lectu e I h ld b h appy t m t D M cie in
f i ndl y d b at
thi im p tan t ubj ect b f e any l ar ned
ci ty or p i ate a m bly
I m S i y u fai th f lly
AL F ED J PEAR CE
Merc i er

Dr

i d icul es

e o

e o

re

re

ua r

se s es,

re

ov r

ue

os

o ss

ese

se o

ve

3 r d , 1 9 13

ha

ve n o

er s

er

ve

ou

or

e as

ro

ae

ee

as

on e o

er

e or

r,

rs

ak an appeal f p blicati n wh ic h w e
i t b t th vi w that th p ati n
t
ti l th y und t d c ann t b e
my t i
a com pl te d f nc f m y tici m ED L
e r

n atur e a e
advanced a s

of

se

Pac
t b een ab l
Mr

re

or

s ro o

er

re o

aev

D ec

sse

r v

o
s

s re

e on

r e

or

er o

ou

er

er e

e,

re

e o

re

re

re

re

or

se

r o ve

so

s o

er e

us

or

r us

c on

re

er

e r

ua r

er

es o

ue

o r es

us

so

as

er

as

rs

u s,

of

er ,

e s

re

our ee

bel i ef

th e

or

es

o r es s

s er ous un

e e

e o

e o

ar e
s

er

er s oo

A str o logy in M edic ine

78

LANCET

To the E d i tor of TH E

wi th stan d th e app eal

that M Pea ce m ak es to m e H e a ks m e wh ethe I think
that Roger Bac o n an d A lbe tus Magn us we e inc apabl e o f
distingu i sh ing tr u th fr om e o I has te n to as u e h im
that in m y Opini on these em in en t m en we e a s inc apable o f
m aking a m i s tak e a s I a m m ysel f Th e exp er i enc e o f m ank in d
thr ou gho ut th e ages h ows that cle e m e n e e m ak e
No c lever g en era l h a s e e b een de fe ate d in b attl e ;
m i stak es
c ou nsel
o c l ever jud ge w a s ever u p se t o n app e al ; n o c l eve
o c leve th eo l o gi an e e
h eld an e o n eou s
eve l os t a c au se ;
o p ini o n o at any r ate a n o pini o n that w a s h eld to b e er r on e
ou s by o th er c l ever th eo l o gi an ; n o c l eve d o c t or eve m ad e a
wr ong di agnosis ; n o c le e sch oolboy e e need s to ha e h is
e xer ci s es c or r ec te d ; in fa c t abi l i ty a n d in fall ibi l i ty m e a n th e
s am e th ing
M Pe ar c e i s c er tain ly r ight in p ou r ing c on tem pt up o n m y
ar gu m en t that C per nic u o er thr ew ast o log y ; at leas t h e
would have been r ight i f I had m ad e th e statem en t or i f I
had c all ed i t an ar gum ent
I sh o u ld b e m os t happ y to acc ept M P ear c e s c hal l enge
to deb ate th i s i m p o r tan t subj ec t b efo e a l e ar n ed so ci e ty
wer e i t ot that I a m at p en t i m m er sed in a m uc h m or e
im p or ta n t investigatio n wh ic h ab o bs m y who le tim e an d
atten ti o n That S atur n Ju pi ter an d Mar s in conj u nctio n
in A quar i us m us t have p r o d u c ed th e Bla c k D eath in th
following year is paten t to ever yo n e an d n eeds n o dem o n
but i t r equi ed th e in ight o f geniu s t d iscover that
st a ti o
th e bu r ni ng o f Yo k M in st e w a s d e to th e su p er abun danc e
It
o f sn ai ls in a c er tain b ac k g ar de n e a l y in th e s am e y ea r
i s th e p ec ul i ar m er i t o f th e ad ept b e h e a n as t o l o ger or
m e el y a n har us p ex to r e c o gn i se th e signi c anc e o f su c h
c o inci dences It seem s to have esc aped alto g ther th e ob ser
that th is y ea of gr ace 1 9 1 3 h as been
vati o n o f th e vu l g a
S IR,

Like your self I

am

n ab le

to
s

rr

v r

v r

v r

v r

rr

v r

v r

r es

s r

n,

Co r r esp o n den ce

79

c har ac ter i ed n o l e s by th e sup er abun danc e o f n ail in ba ck

ga den s than by th e nu m b o f c o a g r a ti o s ini ti at d by
su r a g ettes
Th e c aus al nexus n eeds o p o f ; b u t i f i t di d
pr o f wou ld b e fo un d in th e fac t that in I land fr om which
s n ai ls w e e b ani s h e d by th e b e ece t a c ti o n o f S t Patr ic k
an d wh e e th e e a e o b ack ga den th e b acks o f th e h o u es
b eing in f on t the h s be n n o u g ette inc n d i ar i m
I will not pu su e th e subj e ct fu th e in thi s place b ut if
M Pe a c e wan ts any fur th e in for m ati o n h e will n d i t in m y
for thc m ing book De Co g r tio ib s et d e Multit d ini b
s

er

ro

re

s,

'

re

H eli c i d a r um in H or tu li s Po sti c i s

1 3 th , 1 9 1 3

us

am,

S ir ,

you s fai thfully

CH AS
D ec

ra

MER CIER

AND S IGNS

S AINTS
! Par t

of

a th i d L c tu e wh ich w
Ca ual Club
ead t th
r

IT

a s no t

d li
e

Nov

d but w

ver e

as

1 9 1 2)

us e d to be a point of honour with

m e,

and

I b elieve with other m e mbers of this Club never

,

to read up the subj ect of the evening s discussion

So to do would

be

to depriv e the di scussions of

that casual character which is their distinctive

charm and which give s
,

i ts

name to the Club

It

is with regret that I have noticed of late years

signs that this honourable understanding is not
maintained and therefore I hav e chosen for this
,

paper a title which will have re nder e d impracticable

an y attempt

to acquire information of its subj e ct

from outside sources

been trying to steal

If any memb e r pre sent has

march upon the rest by

looking up the lite rature of miraculous signs

adduce d in evidence of the truths of Christianity

by the heroes or th e victims of canonisation I
,

have the pleasure of informing him that

he

has

been wasting his time ; and I may fu rther inform

Peculia r ities of

So ver eign

th e

81

those members who hav e made di re ct inquiries of

me

th e

as to

scope of

subj ect indicat e d by my

th e

titl e that my answers whil e of course

,

trictly

truthful were intende d to misle ad and hav e I

,

trus t serv e d th eir purpose

,

I have here a specimen of a metallic token

which if an y of you hav e n e v e r
,

be glad
I

to

hand round

see

o n e,

I shall

I had more so that

Iwi sh

pr esent one to each of you as a mem ento

m i ght

of thi s j oyful occa sion but

,

Exchequ e r

se

izes upon

th e

Chancellor of the

v ery specimen with such

avidi ty that th ey are becom ing more and more

scarce and di fcult to obtain a metallic token
which s e rves in this country as
value an d is known as
,

sterling

If

th e

yo u will let ob

se

th e

standard of

overeign or pou nd

rvation wi th e xtensive

view s urvey it on both aspects y o u will nd that

on the obv erse or the revers e In e ver know which
,

is which
s

i t b e ars th e image, though not the

uperscription of St G e orge of Cappadocia who

,

has abandoned the more lucrative occupation of

army contractor in order to follow the more
honourable calling of patron saint

He

is engaged

to m a r y avocation
M

yo u

will observe in
,

h is

cus

of slaying th e dragon an op e ration

,

Sa in ts

82

a nd

Signs

which he performs in a rather surprising manner

Chastely attired in a helmet much too large for

him the weight of which has dislocated his neck
,

and mounted on a pony many sizes too small for

him the saint is in the act of kicking the dragon
,

in the neck with his bare foot while the p ony

,

simultaneously kicks the animal on the head with

his

o ff

fore and treads on its abdom e n with

,

near hind

h is

The triple as saul t so confounds the

dragon that instead of biting the

leg

of the saint

or of the pony both of whi ch are within easy

,

reach

he

retaliate s by swearing which any

,

in telli

gent dragon must know would avail little against

a Welsh pony ! unless indeed the dragon should

swear in Wel sh of which th e re
,

is

no e vidence ) and

would be quite ineff e ctual against a saint especially

,

a saint who had had as lon g an exp

a rm y a s St George of Cappadocia

rie nce in the

George of Cappadocia was a comm e rcial man

and a very successful comm e rcial man and no
,

doubt it

is

meet and right and our bounden duty

to place upon the standard of value in thi s com

m e r c ia l country

man

the ef gy of a successfu l commercial

But it is not on account of

comm e rc e that the

h is

succes s in

gy of George appears on

ef

th e

Sa in ts

84

a nd

Si gns

cannot adduce any other examples it is b e cause

,

these are th e only nations i f

we

can allow tha t

Scotland is a nation that remain as they

w ere

before the modern redistrib ution of the map of

Europe

But nations were not the only thi ngs that had
patron saints

Every family that aspired to county

rank and indeed every person who aspired to be

,

of cons equence had his or h er patron saint

,

was

th is all as th ey say in O xford

,

Every

sion and calling had its patron saint

saint of medi cine wa s St Luke

Nor

pr o f es

The patron

Who was the

patron saint of lawyers I do not know but no

,

doubt they chos e

very powerful

o n e,

for their

need was great ; or pe rhaps no saint would consent

to act for th e m for of all the Inns of Court it is
,

curious that not one is named after a saint

As t o

oth e r callings the sailor men had a patron saint in

-

St Botolph fe rrymen in St Christopher shermen

,

in St Peter shoemakers in St Crispin butchers in

,

St Bartholomew huntsmen in St Hubert and so

,

on

I nee d not remind you that to this day every

church has its patron saint but you may not know
,

that every part of the human body and every

,

ailment of the h u m a n body had its patron saint

Pa tr o n Sa ints

85

th e

patronage of St Otti la ;
the n e ck acknowledged St Blasius ; the body

The head was under

St Lawr e nc e ; the legs and fe et St Rochu s and

,

St John ; and th e reby hangs a curiou s tale as we

,

ha ll see presently

Except for

c o un tries

and church e s patron

,

saints are not now much utilised ; but it is evident

from th e ir un iversal employment in former times

that they were on c e of great importance

At the

pre s e nt day a patron is a m e rely ornam ental

,

personage

He gives

hi s

nam e and h e
,

is

us ually

exp e cted to giv e a subscription but beyond this

,

only fu nction is to confe r resp e ctability In

former tim es however his functions were much
more active Patron I may remind y o u is c orr e
lativ e with client a s father with chi ld or m a st er
hi s

with s e rvant

A child necessarily implies a father

and without a father can no child

be

implies a s ervant and where there is a

,

there there must be a mast e r

m aster
se

rvant

And similarly

patron and cl ien t are correlative

Th e re can be

no patron without a cli e nt and no cli ent without

,

a patron
th e

For this re ason I obj ect to and resent

,

custom that has recently arise n of tradesmen

calling their customers clients

specially as in the

Sa in ts

86

a nd

Sig ns

s ame breath they ask their customers for patron

age

A master might as well ask his servant for

orders or a fath e r expe ct a tip from his child

,

a patron ask his cli e nt for patronage

as

The relation of patron and client was the

relation of protector and protected

I don t know

whether th ose who placed th emsel ves under the

patronage of a saint called th ems e lve s his clients

but undoubt edl y they invok e d and expecte d his

protection ; and it was for

th e

s ak e of protection

that they provided themselves with patron saints

We must remember that in the days when men

provided themselve s with patron saints no one
,

could aff ord to be without protection

We have

o n ly to pay attention to the litany to re al ise how

urgent was
for

th e

protection

n e ed
.

The litany is o n e long pr ay er

We pray to

be

protecte d from

evil and mi schief from the crafts and assaults of

,

th e

d e vil from the wr ath of God from lightning

,

and tempest from plagu e p e stilence and famin e

,

from battl e and murder and from sudd en death

,

We p ray for protection for all that travel by land

or by water for all prisoners and captives for all

,

sick persons ! against their doctors I suppose) and

fo r all sorts and conditions of men
,

Fu nc tio ns of
In thos e days

th e

Pa tr o n Sa in ts

87

mode rn conception of

rei gn of law in the sense of

,

natural causation had not

,

th e

in e xorableness of

th e

bee n attaine d

yet

Things happ ened in those days not in obe di ence

,

to natural laws but according to capric e and to

,

wheth e r

de vil got a chan c e wh en God was not

th e

attending or wh en th e saints his ministers we re

,

pre occupi e d with oth e r aff airs

Th e Al mighty

was too augus t to be approache d dire ctly

it seems to ha ve been assum ed that
th e

he

Inde ed

occupied

po sition of a con stit utional sove reign and

,

acte d onl y on

advice or

th e

int erc ession of his

th e

mini sters the saints so that it was of the rst

,

importance

to

hav e the prote ction and favour of

a powe rful and inuential saint

Wh en clans or nation s j oin e d battl e th e ir war

,

name of th e ir patron saint who was

expe cte d to ght on th e s ide of h is votaries or
cli ents to see that they had all th e luck and came

cry

w a s th e

out top dog

Not infr equently

th e

aint came

down on purpos e and in bodily presen c e

,

to

th e

attack

le d

th e m

Many s uch instanc e s are on record

and it is worth notice that wh oever the saint that

,

thus interprete d his obligation s h e was alway s

,

mount ed on a white h orse

Sa in ts

88

Signs

a nd

Although wars were very frequent in medi aeval

times it would be a mistak e to suppose as
,

historians b e fore the pre s ent generation s eem e d

to s uppose that the whole tim e of the whole male
,

population of

th e

and in nothing

world was occupied in ghting

lse

No doubt in tim e s wh en

there were no newspap ers no novels no theatres

,

no cricket no football no su i a gi sts no divorce

court no kin ematographs and no parliamentary
'

d e bates p e opl e must have suff ered t e rrible bore

,

dom and would have been driven now and th e n

,

to do a littl e whol es om e ghting from sh eer vacancy

of mind ; and no doubt wh en there were no motor
,

buses no taxi cabs and no municipal tram cars

-

the normal increas e of population must hav e

required some oth e r
bounds of the m eans

c h e ek
of

to ke ep it within the

subsistenc e ; and so pe ople

plunged into war to save th e ms elves from famin e ;

but still the laity did not live wholly on acorns
,

and be e ch mast nor the clergy on Greek roots

-

and th erefore some industrial occupations mu s t

hav e been followed ; and

we

know as a matte r of

fact that som e were followed ; and what e ver a

man s occupation might

b e,

wh e th e r of war or

h
e
a
c
e
it
was
ne
essar
y
if
wa
s
to
have
an
y
luck
c
e
p
,

Sp ecia list Sa in ts

89

that he should have a patron saint ; and h en c e i t

was that a patron saint presided over e very trade
and calling
e

Not even thi e ving could pro spe r

xcept unde r the patronage of St Nicholas

My own o cc upation had not th e n reach e d the

p erfe ction that it

has

now a ttain e d and in those

,

days th e re were maladies that

b a led th e

res ources

of m e dical art a s i t th e n was and d e e d all

th e

drugs in

th e

pharmacop oeia re inforce d as that

,

th en was by many p o t en t and valuable rem edi e s

th at the ignorance and indiff e rence of a later age
has

suffer e d to fall into di su s e

Pounded earth

worms ants eggs asses dung the urine of a bull

or

strange alternative o f a virgin vipers fat

th e

wat e r that had been us e d for washing a corpse

all th es e incr e dible a s it app e ars s om eti m es failed
,

to cure ; and th e n th ere wa s no r esource le ft but

to

go

to

th e

celestial Harl ey Street and consult

,

a specialist saint

had as many

th e

For

c el e stial Harley Stree t

aintly sp e ciali sts

as

its mundane

succ es s or has now of spe cialists who are perhaps

,

no t altogeth e r saintly St Apollonius was the

l eading authority on toothache ; St Avertin a p
.

pr o pr i a te d

my own spe cialty of lunacy St Benedict

a cti s ed
e
r
in
ston
and
o
her
diseases
of
the
t
p

Sa in ts

90

a nd

Signs

bladder ; St Hubert specialised in hydrophobia ;

St John in e pil e psy ; St Vitus in chorea ; St Maur

O f cours e
it was not to be expect e d that every one should
k now the right saint to go to in any particular
malady any more than the man in the street
in gout ; and St Anthony in erysipelas

knows at

th e

pr es ent time precisely the best

specialist wh o is not a saint to consult for the

,

malady with which h e may happen to be a li c ted

It would ha ve been a s ab surd t o go for on e s gout

to St Apollonius the President if one may so put

,

it of the ce lestial College of Dentists as for th e

toothache to St Maur whose specialty w a s go ut
,

In cas es of difculty it was necessary to consult

,

a priest as one now con s ults a gen eral

,

ti o n er

pr a c ti

O f cours e in those days as in th ese the fee

had to be considere d Guin eas had not th e n been
coin e d and paym e nt w a s usually made in candl es
,

burnt at the
m u n er a ti o n

that for my
,

say has b e en abandoned

wa s

th e

hrine of

rather after that of

of modern me d icine

saint a mode of
,

o wn

re

part I am glad to
,

This method of payment

th e

Th e

sister profession than

saint had a number of

candles marked on his brief

as it were

and unles s

Sa in ts

92

Signs

a nd

of the Christian era when though sins were very

,

many saints were very few and until

th e

l a rg e

additions mad e to the noble army of martyrs in

the reign of Diocletian there could not possibly
,

have been saints enough t o

go further back
early

AD

to

go

round ; and if we

and recede from the p enumbra of

outer darkness of

th e

B C
.

we

ente r

a b e nighted world in which there were no saints

at all The prospe ct appals ! We m
ight almost
as well contemplat e a world in which there were
.

no barriste rs Th e question pre sents itself and

presses up on u s with irresistible force Wh at di d
our unhappy anc e stors do in a world in whi ch
there were no saints ? It is clear that patrons or
,

protectors of som e kind they must have had for

,

in pre Christian no more than in mediaeval times

-

was there any con viction or knowledge of

peration of natural laws

th e

How do we know this ?

We hav e it on un e xceptionable authority

A c on

temporary write r who is ge n erally believed to

,

ha ve been inspired asserts He hath not dealt so

with any nation neith er have the heathen any

knowledge of

hi s

laws

Consequently there was

the same lack of any rule or

happening of eve nts

governan c e in

the

Everyt hing went by chance

Sa in ts

Unn ec essa r y

accordi ng as the devil or

th e

93

aints were paying

attention or got the upper hand at the moment

,

But the re were no saints

th e

that

H en

c e it would

appear

devil m u st h ave had it all h is own way

and that the aff airs of

But they were

He no t o nl y survived but

h e prospered and ourished

He increased and

multiplied exceedi ngly

must have been uni

m en

formly and in variably un fortunate

not for m an s urvived

Men organised th ems elves

into great nations built great cities and were

,

subj e ct to mighty kings

Eg ypt Nin e veh Babylon

Assyria Pe rsia the Empir e of India and the

,

great e r Empire of China all attest that long before

,

there were saints to interest th emselves in him

man succ ee ded somehow or oth er in antagonising

,

the devil and getting the b ett er of h im

It is of

the utmo st int eres t and import ance to dis cov e r

h ow h e did this and what were

,

th e

m eans that h e

employe d ; and this brings me to the middl e of my

son g and the second part of my pap er

,

don e with Saints

I am now

It is clear that they wer e not

as indi sp ensabl e as th ey made them selve s out ;

and I say it wi th reluctance but I hav e grav e
,

doubts wheth e r th ey did not lay claim

if

not to

p owers th ey did not poss ess at any rate to

,

th e

Sa in ts

94

Signs

a nd

exclusive possession of powers by no me ans peculiar

t o th em

We kno w indeed th at on one historical

occasion St Dunstan did

,

eize the devil by the

nose with a pair of tongs ; and we a r e told on less

unimpeachable authority but we are told that
St Nicholas kicked him on a place wh i ch is describe d
as being ne a r th e spot wh ere the tail j oins on to
the small of the back ; but with th ese exceptions
though h e was con stantly outwitted and indeed
h e appears to be a kind of Simple Simon easily
gulled by the most transpare nt de vice and no
more astute than th e victims of the condence
trick with thes e exceptions I say th ere are few
if any r e cords of personal en co u n ters wi th the
devil till we com e d o wn t o Martin Luther ; and
,

Martin Luther

wa s

not a

aint

H e was nev e r,

I understand canonised and I am informed on

,

good authority in reply to inqui ry made in the

,

highest quarters that any application t o

,

his canonisation would have

success
Still whatever

li ttle

R ome

for

or no chance of

naccountable prej udi ces may

exist at Rome against the canonisation of thi s

gre at and good man I cannot see that we a re any
,

neare r a solution of

th e

mos t important and

,

Sa in ts

96

bodies and
,

l ling

Signs

a nd

their places with saints

Long

before St Louis or St Andrew or that successful

commissary St Georg e wa s born or thought of
,

every nation and city of antiquity had its patron

Sign

Every calling had its own patron Sign or

every part of the body its patron Sign or

Planet

Planet : and every illness had a double process of

cure being remediable not on ly by certain drugs
,

but according to the pos ition and movement of

the Planets among th e Signs when the drugs were
collected and when they were administered

The

series of saints and the series of Signs present

a complete parallel and it is evident that in this
,

as in other things Christianity took advantage of

a pre existing organisation and adapted
-

own uses

it

to its

It took th e i nstitution of patronage by

celestial personages as it took the institution of

,

periodical festivals ; emptied th em of their previous

contents and lled them
,

with

Christian matter

leaving the pagan form unal tered

Thus it t ook

the great annual winter festival and altered it

,

arbitrarily to Christmas day pretending that it is

,

anniversary of the birth of Christ for which

th e

th ere is not one tittle of evidence ; but it could

not or did no t alter the minor weekly fe stival
,

Pr iests

a nd

A s tr o log er s

97

wh i ch still has its name from the gr eatest of the

Plan ets In th ese cas es the s up ersession w a s e ither
complete or none at all but in oth e r matte rs and
especially in the matter of patronage and protection
the struggle was very prolonged and for ages the
two systems of patronage e xis ted si d e by s ide ; and
alongside the pri e sts wh o were experts in advi s ing
a s to the appropriat e saint to invoke were the
astrologers experts in advising the prope r con
.

j unction

or

th e

disposition of

h eav enly bodies to

wait for before beginning any undertaking or

altering any course of action and al s o for the
,

purpos e of de termining wh e th er a course of action

was or wa s not j udiciou s and calculate d to be
,

successfu l

B etwe e n th e two sets of practitioners

th ere was a natural j ealousy

The Church forbad

rec o urse being had to the aid of Astrology and

threatened e xcommunication to any one wh o con
s u lte d th e rival exp e rt j u s t as at pr es ent the
,

orthodox physician boycotts the homoeopath

the o th er hand

th e

On

astrologe r wh o was often a n

,

indel ofte n a Jew or a n Arab despi se d and

,

ridiculed th e pretensions of the saints

Wh atev e r

faith or want of faith either s e ct had in

,

i ts

own

ministrations neither was wi thout an uneasy feelin g

,

Sa in ts

98

Signs

a nd

that th e other might after all have some thing in

,

it

The astrologers were no t above invok ing the

aid of the s ain ts in th eir own p er son al difculties

and th e very Pope s wh o issued bulls fulminating

against Astrology and its practitioners

kept

ye t

th eir own private astrologers whom they consulted

on th e sly I n spite of their mutual antagonism
however th e two systems existe d side by side for
many centuries and n either can boast of a c ompl e te
triumph over the other As tro l o gy is dead it is
,

true but in Protestant countries the invocation of

,

saints perished l on g b efore

u en ce

i ts

rival and th e

in

of the heavenly bodies was consulted by very

many who would have scorn e d t o invoke a saint

Ve ry many days in th e year had their patron

saints

and thos e wh o are famili ar with old

ch roni cl es

know that the date of an eve nt was

n e ver signalised by the day of the month but

,

always by the s aint s day that it fell upon or in

,

th e few ca ses in wh i ch

th e

day had not been

appropriated by som e saint or other

th e d ate

was

signalised a s being on the eve of th e day following

which was s u re to ha ve its patron saint or the

,

morrow of

th e

previous day

Co r r eS po n di n g ly,

every day of the week had i ts patron Planet

The

Sa in ts

1 00

Signs

a nd

Ti me fails me to carry out the parallel in

th e

further detail but just as

,

patron Sign

Of

England is St G e orge an d the efgy of St George

,

appears upon o u r coins so the patron Sign of

,

Syria was Aries and

,

on Syr ian c oins

th e

efgy of the Ram appears

Similarly Palmyra was under

,

the patronage of Libra and on the coins of Palmyra

,

appears the Balanc e

Simi larly individuals h a d

,

their patron Signs before ever they h ad their

patron saints

The patron Sign of Augustus

wa s

Q u een of Pontus the

Balance The custom continued well in t o mediaeval
Capricorn of
,

Pyth o d e i a

times and in t o Christian countries and

,

ing

Stephen of England adopt e d and placed on his

coins the patron

Si

gn

of Sagittari u s

A
C

AM

B R ID G E : P R INTE D BY JO H N C L

Y, M A
.

AT TH E U NIV E R S ITY P R ES S

Unive rs ity o i C a lii o rnia

AC
S O U HE N EG O NA
B A YF
Y
405 Hi lg a rd Ave n ue , Lo s Ang e les , C A 90024-1 3 88
Re tu rn th is m a te ria l to th e li b ra ry
tro m w h ic h it w a s b o r ro w ed

T R R

L LI

ILIT

R R